CIHM 
Microfiche 
Series 
(i\/lonographs) 


ICI\AH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographies) 


H 


Canadian  Inttituta  for  Hiatorieal  Microrcpraductiona  /  Inatltut  Canadian  da  microraproductiont  liistoriquaa 


1995 


Technical  ana  8ibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  technique  et  bibllographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  tci  obtain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibliographically  unique,  which  may  alter  any  of 
the  images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checked  below. 


[2 


Coloured  covers  / 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I     I      Covers  damaged  / 

' — '      Couverture  endommagee 

I     I      Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Couverture  restauree  el/ou  pelliculee 

I     I      Cover  title  missing  /  Le  litre  de  couverture  manque 

r7|      Coloured  maps  /  Cartes  g^graphiques  en  couleur 

r^     Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)  / 

Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

r^     Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations  / 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

I     1      Bound  with  other  material  / 

Reli4  avec  d'autres  documents 


n 


n 


Only  edition  available  / 
ileule  edition  disponlble 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin  /  La  reliure  serree  peut 
causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la  distorsion  le  long  de 
la  marge  interieure. 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoratkxis  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have 
been  omWed  from  filming  /  II  se  peut  que  ceitaines 
pages  blanches  ajout^es  lors  d'une  restauration 
apparaissem  dans  le  texte,  mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait 
passible,  ces  pages  n'ont  pas  ete  lilm^es. 


L'Institut  a  microfilme  le  meilleur  examplaire  qu'il  lui  a 
ete  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details  de  eel  exem- 
plaire  qui  sont  peut-etre  uniques  du  point  de  vue  bibli- 
ographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  image  reprodulte, 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modifications  dans  la  meth- 
ode  nomiale  de  filmage  sont  indiques  ci-dessous. 

I     I      Coloured  pages  /  Pages  de  couleur 

I     I     Pages  damaged/ Pages  endommagees 

I     I      Pages  restored  an*or  laminated  / 
— '      Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pellKjItes 


B^ 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed  / 
Pages  d6cok>rees,  tacheties  ou  piqu^es 


r~|     Pages  detached/ Pages  dStachies 

FT'    Showthrough/ Transparence 

I     I      Quality  of  print  varies  / 

' — '      Quality  inegale  de  I'impression 

I     I      Includes  supplementary  material  / 

Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 

FT'  Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
'-^  slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  returned  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image  /  Les  pages 
totalement  ou  partiellement  obscurcies  par  un 
feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure,  etc..  ont  6t6  filmtes 
a  nouveau  de  fa^on  k  obtenir  la  meilleure 
image  possible. 

I  I  Opposing  pages  with  varying  colouration  or 
discolourations  are  filmed  twice  to  ensure  the 
best  possible  image  /  Les  pages  s'opposant 
ayant  des  colorations  variables  ou  des  decol- 
orations sont  film^es  deux  fois  afin  d'obtenir  la 
meilleur  image  possible. 


D 


AddWonal  comments  / 
Commentaires  supplementaires: 


Thh  item  is  f ilmad  at  tli*  rtduetion  ratio  chacfcad  bakwr/ 

C«  dacumant  an  filnri  au  uu«  da  rMuction  indiqui  ci-danous. 

'OX  14X  1SX 


22X 


12X 


20X 


26X 


XX 


24X 


2ax 


MX 


Tht  copy  filtntd  har*  hu  ba«n  raproduead  thanki 
to  tha  ganaroaity  of: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'axamplaira  film*  fut  raproduit  griea  i  la 
gtnAroaiU  da: 

Blbllotheque  natlonale  du  Canada 


Tha  imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baat  quality 
poasibla  eoniidaring  tha  condition  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apacificalionn. 


Original  copiaa  in  printad  papar  covara  ara  ftlmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
aion.  or  tha  bacl>  covar  whan  approprlata.  All 
othar  original  copiaa  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  Illuatratad  impraa- 
■ion,  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illuatratad  impraaaion. 


Tha  laat  racordad  frama  on  aaeh  microficha 
ahaii  contain  tha  symbol  ^»-  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  y  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  applias. 


Las  imagas  suivantas  oni  ttt  raproduitas  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin,  compta  lanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattata  da  l'axamplaira  filma,  at  an 
conformita  avac  laa  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 

Laa  axamplairaa  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  an 
papiar  aat  imprimta  sont  fiimts  an  commancant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarminant  soit  par  la 
darnitra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainia 
d'impraaalon  ou  d'lllustration.  soit  par  la  sacond 
plat,  salon  la  cas.  Toua  laa  autras  axamplairaa 
originaux  sont  filmAs  an  commanpant  par  la 
pramitra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraaaion  ou  d'illuatration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  darniAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  talla 
amprainta. 

Un  daa  aymboloa  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
darnMra  imaga  da  chaqua  microficha,  salon  la 
cas:  la  symbola  —»■  signifia  "A  SUIVRE ',  la 
aymbola  V  aignifia  "FIN". 


Mapa,  plataa,  charta,  ate.  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratios.  Thosa  too  larga  to  ba 
antiraly  includad  in  ona  axpoaura  ara  filmad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  lafl  hand  cornar.  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framaa  aa 
raquirad.  Tha  following  diagrama  illuairata  tha 
mathod: 


Laa  cartaa,  planchaa,  tablaaux.  ate.  pauvant  atra 
filmta  a  daa  taux  da  raduction  diffarants. 
Lorsqua  la  documant  ast  trap  grand  pour  atra 
raproduit  an  un  saul  clicha.  il  aat  filma  a  partir 
da  I'angia  suptriaur  gaucha.  da  gaucha  1  droita. 
at  da  haut  an  baa,  an  pranant  la  nombra 
d'imagaa  nAcaaaaira.  Laa  diagrammas  suivants 
illuatrant  la  mathoda. 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

MlOOCOrV    KSOIUTION    TtST   CHMT 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  Jl 


^     APPLIED  IM/1GE 


1653   East   Main   Street 


^.*>: 


OF  ORH(_;c..)N 


J 


ADVENTXmERS  OF  OREGON 


EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED  EDITION 

VOLUME  22 

THE  CHRONICLES 

OF  AMERICA  SERIES 

ALLEN  JOHNSON 

EDITOR 


GERHARD  R.  LOMER 

CHARLES  W.  JEFFERYS 

ASSISTANT  EDITORS 


'  ..ll  .1 


>V\li,,l(^V.U  7H'H. 


iT„„:.o"''V',""''*"'"'"'S''.r..li 


t^fuumotype  in  tfa«  Library  of  Letftbd  Stanford,  Jr.,  Uai- 
veraity.  Reproduced  by  courUsy  of  Mr.  Q.  T.  Clark,  LibrariaD. 
Tba  pie , ore  came  to  tfafe  lilnmry  aa  m  (ift  from  Mn.  Mary  Shel- 


don Barnes,  formerly  a 

the  d«»xuerre»typa  if- a  iMtu  aatl 
"  I  send  you  .  .  .  th« 
McLoughlin  ...  proMated 
the  6r«t  Supreme  Judfaaf 
fore  hia  death.  .  . 


(acuity.    On  the  back  of 
^ting  the  portrait: 

of  brave  old  Gorernor 

to  John  Quinn  Thomtoo, 

iud  given  by  him  to  me  be- 


uly. 


*; 
i' 

i 


"S.    A.    CURK." 


:  I 


,! 


ADVENTURERS 
OREGON 


OF 


A  CHRONICLE 

OF  THE  FUR  TRADE 

BY  CONSTANCE  L.  SKINNER 


NEW  HAVEN:   YALE   UNIVERSITY   PRESS 

TORONTO:  GLASGOW,    BROOK    &  CO. 

LONDON:    HUMPHREY    MILFORD 

OXFORD    UNIVERSITY    PRESS 

1920 


i   ■  ' 


260629 


Copyright,  19S0,  by  Yale  Vnivertiiy  Preu 


CONTENTS 


I.    THE  RIVER  OF  THE  WEST  Page     1 

II.    LEWIS  AND  CLARK  "  <7 

III.  THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  "  7* 

IV.  THE  TONQUIN  "  118 
V.     ASTOR'S  OVERLANDERS  "  U4 

VI.    ASTORIA  UNDER  THE  NOR' WESTERS  "  184 

VII.    THE  KING  OF  OLD  OREGON  "  Ml 

VIII.    THE  FALL  OF  THE  FUR  KINGDOM  "  MO 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE  "  «7S 

INDEX  "  »TT 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


JOHN  McLOIIGHLIN 

Daguerreotype  io  the  Library  of  Leland  Stan- 
ford, Jr..  University.  Reproduced  by  cour- 
tety  of  Mr.  G.  T.  Clark.  Librarian.  The 
picture  came  to  the  Library  aa  a  gift  from 
tin.  Mary  Sheldon  Barnes,  formerly  a 
member  of  the  faculty.  On  the  back  of  the 
daguerreotype  is  a  letter  authenticating  the 
portrait: 

"I  lend  you  .  .  .  the  daguerreotype  of 
braveold  Governor  McLoughlin  .  .  .  pre- 
sented by  him  to  John  Quion  Thornton, 
the  first  Supreme  JiKJge  of  Oregon,  and 
given  by  him  to  me  before  his  death.  .  .  . 
"Yours  truly 

"S.  A.  Clabk."      Frontiapitee 

MERIWETHER  LEWIS  AT  THE  TIME 
WHEN  HE  WAS  SECRETARY  TO  PRESI- 
DENT JEFFERSON 

Engraving  by  St.   Memin.  in  the  Corcoran 

Gallery  of  Art.  Washington.  Facinf  pa^  SO 

DANCE  OF  THE  MANDAN  INDIANS 

Engraving  after  a  drawing  by  Charles  Bod- 
mer  in  Traveh  in  the  Interior  o/  Norih  Amer- 
iea  in  ISSl-S-i,  by  Maximilian.  Prince  of 
Wied  Neu-Wied.  Copy  in  the  New  York 
Public  Library.  "        "       SZ 


ULUSTRATIONS 


THE  OREGON    COUNTRY    AND   ITO    AP- 
PROACHES,  m*-lM» 

M.p  by  W.  L.  G.  Jo«,,  AmeriMB  Geopaphi- 

Fanitgfaf    SiJ 
WILLIAM  CLARK 

P.i»ting  by  Cb.rle.  WilLon  P«l,  in  Inde. 
pendcncc  HkII,  PUIaddphia. 


JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR 

Engr.ving  in  the  Print  Department  of  the 
New  Yoric  Public  Libr.ry. 

ASTORIA  IN  18IS 

Wood  engriving  in  l'oj,o,.  to  the  Nortkmtt 
Coa.(  0/  Am,ru,„  in  tSll-U,  by  G.briel 
Franchire. 

° 'l/.^i"'*^  '■"  OREGON:  AN  INDIAN 
ALARM 

Ei>gr.ving  by  A.  L.  Dick,  after  a  drawing  by 
E.  Didier  in  Commmi  of  Ik,  Prairui  by 
Joihua  Gregg,  1842.  '  , 


Si 


lie 


ua 


m 


ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 


CHAPTER  I 


THE   BIVER    OF   THE    WEST 


Historic  Oregon  emerges  from  myth.  Over  the 
region  of  those  "continuous  woods"  which  shroud- 
ed the  true  River  of  the  West,  the  romancings  of 
ancient  mariners  had  spread  the  mirage  of  a  great 
inland  waterway  called  the  Strait  of  Anian.  Tnis 
waterway  threaded  the  continent  from  sea  to  se u. 
among  wondrous  isles  gorgeous  with  i  Jacej,  and 
linked  Europe  to  Asia.  Into  the  Strait  of  Auian, 
so  the  legend  ran  —  and  gathered  magic  as  it  ran 
—  flowed  a  mighty  river,  the  River  of  the  West. 
This  river  ha'l  its  source  in  the  Mountains  of  Bright 
Stones,  in  the  heart  of  the  continent,  and  its  broad 
equable  tide  was  well  adapted  to  bear  fleets  of  treas- 
ure ships  into  the  strait  that  made  so  convenient 
a  short  cut  between  Spain  and  the  sublime  East. 


«  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

The  first  Adventurers  of  Oregon  were  therefore 
certain  Latin  and  Levantine  seamen,  who,  for  the 
glory  of  some  king,  said  that  they  had  bravely 
sailed  and  even  meticulously  charted  these  strange 
waters  of  their  own  fancy!  Truly,  in  their  tales, 
as  Bancroft  says,  "maritime  lying  reaches  the 
climax  and  borders  on  the  heroic."  There  was 
no  Strait  of  Anian  such  as  they  described."  Yet 
where  the  imagination  of  these  romancers  coursed 
among  fabulous  isles,  one  lucky  American  seaman, 
after  three  centuries  of  naval  fantasy,  discovered  the 
Columbia  River  flowing  scarf -like  over  the  shoulder 
blade  of  the  continent.  And  it  was  chiefly  by  vir- 
tue of  that  discovery  that  the  wilderness  empire  of 
Oregon  found  its  destiny  within  the  United  States 
of  America. 

But  we  may  not  leave  the  myth  of  the  direct  pas- 
sage to  Asia  with  merely  a  passing  reference;  it  has 
had  too  potent  an  influence  upon  history  for  such 
casual  treatment.  It  dates  back  to  Columbus,  of 
course.     Columbus  discovered  America;  but  he 


■  The  documents  relating  to  these  early  myths  are  printed  in 
the  first  volume  of  Bancroffs  BiHory  o/  the  Northueil  Coal.  The 
name  of  one  of  the  romancers  is  perpetuated  in  the  name  of  the 
strait  discovered  in  1787  by  Barkley,  an  English  trader,  and 
named  by  him  in  honor  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  a  Greek  pilot,  whose 
gallant  ship  was  said  to  have  breasted  Anian's  waters  in  KM, 


THE  MVER  OF  THE  WEST 


S 


did  not  discover  that  pathway  to  the  Orient  which 
he  was  seeking,  nor  that  the  round  world  was  much 
larger  and  Asia  much  smaller  than  he  had  calcu- 
lated them  to  be.  He  died  believing  that  some- 
where not  far  behind  the  new  lands  he  had  found 
lay  the  Asiatic  coast,  and  that  somewhere  —  to  the 
south,  he  thought  —  opened  a  direct  sea  passage 
whereby  the  galleons  of  Spain  might  the  swifter 
reach  and  bear  homeward  "the  wealth  of  Ormus 
and  of  Ind. " 

The  mystery  of  the  short  route  to  Asia  concerned 
Spain  very  particularly.  Spain  was  the  leading 
maritime  nation  of  the  world,  with  Portugal  a 
close  second;  but  now  that  all  Europe  was  agog  for 
discovery,  how  long  would  it  be  before  other  na- 
tions —  France,  or  perhaps  even  England  —  should 
challenge  her  rights?  How  should  Spain  guard 
against  the  encroachments  of  other  nations  with 
oversea  ambitions?  In  some  such  manner  rea- 
soned, with  disquiet  minds,  their  Spanish  majesties 
who  had  financed  Christopher's  voyages.  They 
appealed  to  the  Pope  to  define  the  boundaries  of 
Spanish  possession.  So  Alexander  VI,  generous 
and  of  helpful  intent,  drew  a  line  through  the 
Atlantic  from  pole  to  pole,  and  gave  al'  that  lay 
west  of  the  line  to  Spain  and  all  that  lay  east  of  it  to 


4  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Portugal.  Surely  not  even  the  lore  of  Olympua, 
where  high  gods  made  merry  with  a  world  of 
little  men,  offers  a  scene  so  rich  and  quaint  as 
that  which  we  may  conjure  up  from  the  story 
of  Pope  Alexander  dividing  the  world  between 
his  children,  as  if  it  were  but  a  rosy  apple.  Their 
Spanish  majesties  feared,  indeed,  even  after  such 
fair  apportionment,  that  it  might  yet  prove  to  be 
an  apple  oi  discord.  They  resolved  therefore  to 
have  the  western  passage  discovered  without 
delay,  secretly  if  possible,  and  fortified  at  both 
entranced. 

Thus  began  the  great  search  which  inspired  most 
of  the  explorers  in  the  New  World  during  three 
centuries.  The  Cabots,  Balboa,  Magellan,  Cortes, 
Cartier,  De  Soto,  Drake,  Hudson,  La  Salle,  were 
adventurers  who  set  out  to  make  a  reality  of  the 
great  discoverer's  dream.  Not  all  of  them  were 
Spaniards;  and  thereby  was  it  proved  that  Spain 
had  not  groundlessly  doubted  whether  the  Pope's 
award  would  long  satisfy  those  nations  which  had 
received  no  portion  of  it! 

The  first  mariner  actually  to  sail  north  of  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  present  State  of  Oregon 
is  supposed  to  have  been  the  Spanish  seaman  after 
whom  Cape  Ferrelo  is  named.    Ferrelo  set  out  in 


THE  RIVER  OF  THE  WEST  s 

1543  from  Panama  where  the  Spaniards  had  plant- 
ed their  first  colony  on  the  Pacific.  He  appears, 
however,  to  have  left  no  record  of  having  landed. 
Perhaps  the  northern  waters,  in  his  estimation, 
promised  little;  at  any  rate  his  voyage  led  to  no 
further  northward  explorations  at  that  time.  The 
Spanish  interests  of  that  day  lay  in  the  south;  and 
it  was  mdeed  a  golden  south,  where  Spanish  sea- 
men oaded  their  ships  with  wealth  wrung  from  the 
enslaved  and  terrorized  natives  and  then  sailed 
homeward  to  spread  the  hoard  at  the  King's  feet. 

It  was  the  loss  of  some  of  these  treasure  ships,  or 
rather  of  their  contents,  in  1579  —  a  loss  occa- 
sioned by  the  unwelcome  activities  of  a  certain 
Francis  Drake  from  England  — that  once  again 
turned  Spanish  sails  northward  in  a  search  for 
the  hidden  passage.  Not  only  had  Drake  swooned 
down  as  a  conqueror  upon  waters  and  shores  be- 
longing exclusively  to  Spain,  not  only  had  he  es- 
caped to  England  with  loot  from  Spanish  vessels, 
but  he  had  discovered  the  desired  passage  and 
had  sailed  through  it  —  so  the  Spaniards  believed. 
Drake,  of  course,  had  not  discovered  the  passage, 
though  he  had  gone  northward  for  that  purpose, 
desiring  some  other  homeward  route  than  the  one 
frequented  by  Spanish  ships.     He  had,  however, 


6  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

anchored  in  Oregon  waters  and  had  taken  posses- 
sion, for  his  Queen,  of  the  long  rolling  coast  to  the 
south,  naming  it  New  Albion  —  prophetically  nam- 
ing it  so,  for  although  Spain  was  to  be  overlord  of 
this  coast  for  centuries,  it  was  to  pass  finally  into 
the  hands  of  a  people  speaking  their  law  in  the 
English  tongue. 

The  fearsome  tales  told  thereafter  of  the  red- 
bearded  English  corsair  miraculously  steering  his 
treasure-crammed  ship,  the  Golden  Hind  —  the 
very  name  sounded  supernatural  —  into  the  mys- 
terious passage,  inspired  Spanish  seamen  to  seek 
that  passage  anew;  for  by  what  way  the  terrible 
Drake,  "laughing  athwart  the  decks,"  had  gone 
he  might  even  again  return. 

But  if  Drake  thus,  in  a  legendary  r61e,  inspired 
the  mariners  of  Spain  to  new  search  for  the  hidden 
passage,  he  presently,  in  his  proper  person,  put  a 
curb  on  Spain's  activities  and  humbled  her  pride 
upon  the  sea.  And  for  two  hundred  years  after 
those  ten  days  in  Jdy,  1588,  when  Drake  scattered 
the  blazoned  sails  of  the  Armada  upon  the  rocks 
and  tide-rips  of  the  North  Sea,  Spain  had  little 
heart  for  maritime  exploration  in  any  quarter  of 
tht  globe.  Had  it  not  been  for  that  achievement 
of  Elizabeth's  seamen  far  from  Pacific  shores,  who 


THE  RIVER  OP  THE  WEST  7 

knows  what  might  have  happened  on  the  west 
coast  of  America  north  of  Mexico?  Or  on  the 
east  coast?  With  Spain  mistress  of  the  seas,  could 
Englishmen  have  obtained  a  foothold  on  either 
coast  to  drive  a  continental  wedge  between  the 
Spanish  on  the  south  and  the  French  on  the  north? 
The  defeat  of  the  Armada,  remote  as  it  seems,  in 
fact  decided  that  the  laws  and  language  of  England 
should  prevail  in  America. 

Two  centuries  passed.  Once  again  Spanish  sea- 
men of  the  south  turned  north  to  seek  the  western 
gate  of  that  hidden  passage.  It  was  shortly  after 
the  accession  of  Carlos  III  to  the  Spanish  throne, 
in  1759,  thpt  Spain's  ambition  for  world  power, 
which  had  been  somnolent  since  the  disaster  of 
the  Armada,  awoke  once  more.  Drake's  country- 
men meanwhile  had  settled  along  the  Atlantic 
sciiboard,  which  coast  also  Spain  held  to  be  hers 
rJe  jure,  if  not  de  facto.  Thus  had  the  English 
spread  already  to  the  New  World  their  religious 
heresy  and  their  peculiar  ideas  of  government.  In 
the  very  year  when  Carlos  ascended  the  throne, 
they  had  broken  the  blade  of  France  on  the  heights 
of  Quebec;  and  ;  .  one  year  more  they  had  practi- 
cally  swept  from  the  northeastern  parts  of  America 
that  autocratic  system  of  government  and  those 


8  ADVENTUHERS  OF  OREGON 

social  ideals  which  were  the  fundaments  of  Spanish 
power,  no  less  than  of  French. 

When  Carlos  of  Spain  was  ready  to  give  his 
attention  to  the  northern  half  of  the  New  World, 
the  English  colonists  —  either  iipiorant  of  or  in- 
different to  the  Spanish  decree  that,  whatever 
truce  Spain  might  hold  with  England  in  Europe, 
there  should  be  "no  peace  beyond  the  line"  — 
were  already  beginning  their  thrust  westward 
towards  the  heart  of  the  continent.  Moreover, 
Spain's  domination  of  the  Pacific  coast  was  seri- 
ously threatened  by  another  power  from  the  north. 
Russian  fur  hunters  had  overrun  Siberia  to  the 
shore  of  the  Pacific,  where  they  had  established 
headquarters  at  Kamchatka.  In  1741  Vitus  Ber- 
ing, a  Dane  sailing  for  the  Russian  Czar,  had  dis- 
covered the  Aleutian  Isles  and  the  strait  that  bears 
his  name.  And  now  the  Russians  weie  masters  of 
Alaska,  reaping  enormous  wealth  from  their  yearly 
harvest  of  sea  otter  and  seal.  Now.  therefore,  more 
than  ever  was  it  vital  to  Spain  that  the  Lidden  chan- 
nel should  be  discovered,  its  banks  fortified,  and  its 
waters  closed  forever  to  all  but  Spanish  keels. 

So,  in  1774,  the  Spanish  Viceroy  of  Mexico  dis- 
patched Juan  Perez  to  make  a  thorough  explora- 
tion of  the  Northwest  Coast.    The  time  seemed 


THE  RIVEB  OF  THE  WEST  g 

auspicious  for  New  Spain.  True,  the  Fnglish  had 
swept  away  the  French  and  '■n  this  very  year  were 
battling  with  the  Indians  bt .  jnd  the  Appalachians 
for  the  rich  territory  of  the  Ohio;  and  far  to  the 
north  the  traders  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
were  pushing  westward.  But  the  storm  of  revo- 
lution was  gathering  in  the  American  colonies.  If 
the  winds  but  continued  to  blow  advantageously 
for  Spanish  statecraft,  the  passing  of  that  storm 
biould  see  Spain  arbiter  of  the  whole  New  World. 
The  acquirement  of  Louisiana  from  France,  in  1768, 
signified  Spanish  intent  to  press  in  from  the  south 
and  west  upon  the  English  colonies.  And,  to  fore- 
stall Russia,  the  interloper  in  Alaska,  the  whole  of 
the  Northwest  Coast  must  be  e::plored  and  formally 
annexed  to  New  Spain. 

From  Bruno  Heceta,  who  followed  Perez's  route 
and  made  a  landing  in  1776  at  the  present  Point 
Grenville  to  establish  Spanish  claims,  comes  the 
first  mention  that  is  not  legendary  of  the  River  of 
the  West.  Heceta  did  not  discover  a  river,  but  he 
noted  in  his  journal  that,  when  anchored  near  the 
forty-sixth  parallel,  his  observations  of  the  cur- 
rents had  convinced  him  "that  a  great  quantity  of 
water  rushed  from  this  bay  on  the  ebb  of  the  tide." 
Illness  among  his  crew  as  well  as  other  mishaps 


10  ADVENTDBERS  OF  OREGON 

prevented  Heceta  from  entering  to  explore  the  b«y 
where  the  River  of  the  West  —  still  unseen  of  white 
men  —  emptied  its  foaming  and  roaring  waters. 

By  1776  the  Northwest  Coast  had  been  thor- 
oughly explored,  so  Spanish  mariners  reported,  as 
far  north  at  least  as  Sitka,  although  neither  the 
Strait  of  Anian  nor  the  River  of  the  West  had  been 
discovered.  Spain,  however,  made  no  move  to 
occupy  the  land,  as  there  seemed  no  immediate 
danger  from  Russia,  and  the  American  Revolution, 
as  Spanish  and  French  statesmen  saw  it,  was  ulti- 
mately to  bring  the  revolting  colonisU  into  the  fold 
of  their  Latin  allies.  In  pursuance  of  the  usual 
Spanish  policy  of  secretiveness,  Spair  Ud  not  pub- 
lish any  account  of  the  explorations  of  her  seamen. 
But  in  1778  a  Yankee  named  Jonathan  Carver 
published  in  London  a  book  purporting  to  be  a 
record  of  his  travels  across  the  American  continent, 
in  which  he  related  as  fact  what  Lidians  had  told 
him  of  the  great  River  of  the  West  rising  among 
the  Mountains  of  Bright  Stones  and  flowing  into 
the  Strait  of  Anian.  The  name  of  this  great  river, 
said  Carver,  was  the  Oregon;  and  a  map  proved 
the  tale.  This  book  contained  some  truth,  for  ap- 
parently Carver  did  penetrate  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi, but  it  contained  also  not  a  little  myth  and 


IBE  RIVER  OF  THE  WEST  11 

agreat  deal  of  padding  from  untrustworthy  aources. 
Today  the  one  important  bit  in  the  book  is  the  grand 
name  "Oregon."  Is  it  an  Indian  word,  or  a  word 
of  Spanish  derivation,  or  did  Carver  invent  it?  No 
one  knows.  It  seems  not  to  have  been  used  again 
until  1811  when  William  Cullen  Bryant  retrieved 
it  and  immortalized  it  in  Thanatopsit: 

.  .  .  Take  the  wings 
Of  morning,  pierce  the  Barcan  wilderness. 
Or  lose  thyself  in  the  continuous  woods 
Where  rolls  the  Oregon,  and  hears  no  sound 
Save  his  own  dasbings.  .  .  . 

Two  years  before  the  appearance  of  Carver's 
book,  that  is,  in  1776,  when  England  and  her 
American  colonies  were  locked  in  bitter  strife,  the 
British  Admiralty  had  sent  Captain  Cook  to  ex- 
plore the  Northwest  Coast  of  America.  One  of  the 
aims  of  this  expedition,  of  course,  was  the  discovery 
of  the  passage;  for  the  officers  and  crew  of  any 
ship  of  His  Majesty's  discovering  that  passage 
would  receive  twenty  thousand  pounds  sterling, 
an  award  offered  by  Parliament  in  1745  and  still 
standing.  Cook  anchored  off  Nootka,  Vancouver 
Island,  on  March  99,  1778,  and  then  sailed  north 
until  forced  by  ice  to  turn  back.  He  wrote  in  his 
journal:  "Whatever  passage  there  may  be,  or  at 


W  ADVENTURESS  OF  OREGON 

leart  part  of  it,  must  lie  to  the  north  of  latitude 
78", "  which  was  indeed  so.    The  only  actual  pas- 
sage was  the  impracticable  northern  strait  already 
discovered  by  Bering.    Cook  then  crossed  to  the 
Asiatic  coast  and  thence  to  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
where  he  was  killed  by  natives.    His  voyage  to 
the  Northwest  Coast  had  results.    It  was  made  the 
basis  of  England's  claims  in  the  quarrel  with  Spain 
about  Nootka  ten  years  later.    More  important, 
however,  was  the  introduction  of  Englishmen  to 
the  sea-otter  trade.    A  few  sea-otter  skins  had 
been  presented  by  the  natives  at  Nootka  to  Cook 
and  his  men;  and  when  Cook's  ship  arrived  at 
Canton,  after  the  tragedy  at  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
these  furs  were  bid  for  by  Chinese  tradesmen  at 
what  seemed  to  the  English  seamen  fabulous  sums. 
Trade!    Furs  convertible  into  gold!    Here  was 
the  potent  influence  to  bring  out  of  the  realm  of 
myth  the  land  "where  rolls  the  Oregon."    Since 
the  days  when  Elizabeth  had  answered  Philip  of 
Spain  out  of  the  mouths  of  Drake's  guns,  England 
had  consistently  refused  to  concur  in  Spain's  doc- 
trine that  the  Pacific  was  a  closed  sea.    So  when 
♦he  news  of  furs  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  America 
was  bruited  about  English  ports,  English  mer- 
chants lost  no  time  in  preparing  expeditions  for 


; 


THE  RIVER  OF  THE  WEST  IS 

trade  with  the  natives  of  that  far  country.  As  for 
the  direct  passage,  let  the  explorers  look  for  it;  as 
to  the  Spanuh  fiat,  let  the  diplomats  wrangle  about 
it.  Honest  merchants  were  neither  to  be  lured  by 
an  invisible  chnnnel  nor  barred  by  an  intangible 
principle  from  new  paths  of  trade.  Presently 
four  separate  fur  ti'ading  expeditions  —  one  from 
China,  two  from  India,  and  one  from  England  — 
ploughed  Pacific  waters. 

One  of  these,  sailing  from  Bengal,  was  com- 
manded by  John  Meares,  late  of  the  British  navy. 
Though  Meares  made  Nootka  his  headquarters, 
he,  too,  like  Cook,  had  some  influence  on  Oregon. 
He  was  an  enterprising  soul  and  a  brisk  trader, 
hardly  more  scrupulous  than  other  men  of  his  class 
at  that  time.  Since  he  was  obliged  to  sail  along  a 
so-called  Spanish  coast,  he  hoisted  the  Portuguese 
flag  when  convenient,  and  perhaps  left  it  flying 
at  the  Felice's  masthead  while  he  went  ashore  at 
Nootka  and  purchased  the  place  —  with  bouiid- 
aries  unspecified  —  from  Chief  Maquinna  for  some 
copper  and  a  pair  of  pistols,  and  denoted  it  not 
Portuguese  but  British  soil.  He  erected  buildings 
of  a  primitive  sort  and  "occupied."  He  shipped 
some  Chinese  workmen  from  their  native  land, 
gathered  up  Kanaka  wives  for  them  at  Hawaii  — 


I*  ADVENTUBEB8  OP  OREGON 

poMibly  with  the  idea  th^t  the  leu  conTenation 
between  married  folk  the  more  harmony  — and 
proceeded  to  colonize  Nootlca.  He  waa  well  i«. 
ceived  by  the  Indian*.  His  description  of  the  wel- 
come given  him  is  worthy  of  reproduction,  for 
the  sake  of  the  picture  it  gives  us  of  the  chiefs 
Maquinna  (or  Maquilla)  and  Callicum  and  their 
warriors,  a  scene  the  like  of  which  can  never  recur. 
Meares  wrote  in  his  journal,  on  May  16, 1788: 

They  moved  with  great  parade  about  the  ship,  singing 
at  the  same  time  a  song  of  a  pleasing  though  sonorous 
melody:  there  were  twelve  of  these  canoes,  each  of 
which  conUined  about  eighteen  men,  the  greater  part 
of  whom  were  cloathed  in  dresses  of  the  most  beautiful 
skins  of  the  sea  otter,  which  covered  th^m  f  om  the:r 
neck  to  their  ancles.  Their  hair  was  powdered  with 
the  white  down  of  birds,  and  their  faces  bedaubed  with 
red  and  black  ochre,  in  the  form  of  a  shark's  jaw,  and 
a  kind  of  spiral  line  which  rendered  their  appearance 
extremely  savage.  In  most  of  these  boats  there  were 
eight  rowers  on  a  side.  ...  The  Chief  occupied  a 
place  in  the  middle,  and  y,  ,  also  distinguished  by  an 
high  cap,  pointed  at  the  crown,  and  ornamented  at  the 
top  with  a  small  tuft  of  feathers.  We  listened  to  their 
song  with  an  equal  degree  of  surprise  and  pleasure.  It 
was,  indeed,  impossible  for  any  ear  susceptible  of  de- 
light from  musical  sounds,  or  any  mind  that  was  not 
insensible  to  the  power  of  melody,  to  remain  unmoved 
by  this  solemn,  unexpected  concert.  .  .  .     Sometimes 


THE  RIVER  OF  THE  WEST 


18 


tbey  would  make  a  ludden  tnuuition  from  the  high  to 
the  low  tnnei,  with  luch  melancholy  turns  in  their  vari- 
ationa,  that  we  could  not  reconcile  to  ounelvei  the 
manner  in  which  they  acquired  or  contrived  thii  more 
than  untaught  melody  of  nature.  .  .  .  Everyone 
beat  time  with  undeviating  regularity,  against  the 
gunwale  of  the  boat,  with  their  paddles;  and  at  the 
end  of  every  verse  or  stanza,  they  pointed  with  ex- 
tended arms  to  the  North  and  the  South,  gradually 
sinking  their  voices  in  such  a  solemn  manner  as  to 
produce  an  effect  not  often  attained  by  the  orchestras 
in  our  quarter  of  the  globe. 

After  the  concert,  the  chiefs  brought  aboard  the 
Felice  a  skin  bottle  of  seal  oil,  in  which  exhilarat- 
ing beverage  Meares  and  his  guests  pledged  their 
eternal  friendship. 

Having  thus  established  amicable  relations  with 
the  Indians,  Meares  set  about  erecUjg  buildings 
and  a  fort,  and  he  also  built  a  little  ship,  the  North- 
Wttt  America,  the  first  vessel  to  be  constructed  on 
the  Northwest  Coast.  He  explored  southward  in 
search  of  Bruno  Heceta's  river,  or  the  River  of  the 
West.  He  did  not  find  it,  though  he  crossed  the 
bar  and  stood  near  enough  to  its  mouth  to  name 
the  spit  of  land  hiding  it  Cape  Disappointment, 
«nd  the  harbor  beyond.  Deception  Bay. 

His  colony  soon  came  to  grief.  The  year  1789 
saw  two  other  expeditions  in  these  waters.    One 


16  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

hailed  from  the  Spanish  port  of  San  Bias,  Mex- 
ico, and  the  other  from  Boston.     The  Viceroy  of 
Mexico  had  bethought  him  that  it  was  now  three 
years  since  he  had  sent  up  the  coast  a  sea  scout 
to  report  what  the  Russians  were  doing.     Spain 
had  graciously  permitted  the  Russian.s  to  occupy 
Alaska,  but  with  the  distinct  proviso  that  their 
ramshackle  trading  craft  were  not  to  nose  south- 
ward.    It  was  high  time  to  ascertain  if  this  under- 
standing were  perfect  on  both  sides.     The  Viceroy 
therefore  sent  north  Don  Estevan  Martinez,  cap- 
tain of  the  Princessa,  which  was  no  trading  vessel 
but  an  imposing  ship  of  war  bristling  with  guns. 
Martinez  made  some  startling  discoveries.     He 
learned  that  the   Russians   were  about  to  push 
down  to  Nootka;  he  found  at  Nootka  the  Meares 
colony;  he  found  also  riding  at  anchor  in  Nootka 
Sound,  besides  an  English  vessel,  the  Iphigenia, 
two  other  vessels  flying  the  Stars  and   Stripes, 
the  Columbia,  Captain  John  Kendrick,  and  the 
Lady  Washington,   Captain  Robert   Gray,   both 
of  Boston.     Meares  himself  was  absent  on  a  voy- 
age to  China.     Martinez  seized  the  colony  and 
the  English  vessels,  the  Argonaut,  the  Princess 
Royal,    and    the   North-West   America,    as    they 
sailed  into  port,  quite  unaware  of  ihe  Spanish 


THE  RTVEB  OF  THE  WEST  17 

intruder.  He  tool  Captaiu  C«  Inett  of  the  Argo- 
naut a  prisoner  to  1  it-)  ico.  He  did  not  molest  the 
American  vessels. 

England  promptly  demanded  redress  for  the 
seizures  at  Nootka.  Spain  answered  haughtily, 
rattled  the  sword,  and  made  a  gesture  to  her  cousin 
of  France,  who  nodded  agreeably  and  took  down 
the  family  armor  and  began  polishing  it  publicly. 
But  the  earth  beneath  the  Bourbon's  palace  at 
Versailles  was  already  quivering  from  the  sub- 
terranean rumblings  of  the  French  Revolution,  and 
Spain  saw  that  the  aid  she  had  counted  upon  was 
uncertain  at  best.  Spain  was  obliged  therefore 
to  sign  articles  which,  besides  reimbursing  the 
enterprising  Meares  for  his  losses,  restored  Nootka 
to  the  British  flag,  and  acknowledged  the  right  of 
British  subjects  to  free  and  uninterrupted  naviga- 
tion, commerce,  and  fishing  in  the  North  Pacific; 
also  to  make  and  possess  establishments  on  the 
Pacific  coast  wherever  these  should  not  conflict 
with  the  prior  rights  of  Spain.  Though  the  ar- 
ticles defined  the  rights  of  only  the  contracting 
parties,  England  and  Spain,  yet  in  signing  them 
Spain  abrogated  her  ancient  claim  to  sole  sover- 
eignty on  the  Pacific;  and,  whether  either  party 
realized  it  or  not,  in  this  document  both  concurred 


18  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

in  the  principles  of  a  free  sea  and  of  ownership  by 
occupation  and  development. 


But  those  Americans,  Kendrick  and  Gray,  trad- 
ing at  Nootka  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes  —  who 
were  they?  Of  them  history  tells  not  so  much  as 
we  would  like  to  know.  They  were  in  the  service 
of  a  group  of  merchant  adventurers  in  Boston, 
friends  of  Doctor  Thomas  Bulfinch  of  Bowdoin 
Square.  These  merchants,  we  are  told,  on  a  win- 
ter evening  in  1787,  forgathered  in  the  Doctor's 
library  and,  fired  by  a  published  account  of  Cook's 
voyages,  then  and  there  decided  to  enter  the  sea- 
otter  trade  in  the  Pacific.  Joseph  Barrell,  a  pros- 
perous trader  and  banker,  seems  to  have  taken  the 
lead  in  the  enterprise,  in  which  Bulfinch  himself 
joined.  The  other  partners  were  Crowell  Hatch, 
Samuel  Brown,  John  Pintard,  and  John  Derby. 
These  were  gentlemen  traders  of  the  old  school, 
and  theirs  was  the  happy  lot  to  live  in  the  hey- 
day of  Boston's  adventuring  upon  the  sea,  when 
four  hundred  sail  might  often  be  counted  in  the 
harbor  by  any  worthy  merchant,  such  as  Joseph 
Barrell,  as  he  loitered  on  his  way  to  the  Bunch  of 
Grapes,  the  famous  old  tavern  on  the  site  of 
the  present  Exchange.    It  was  at  the  Bunch  of 


THE  RIVER  OP  THE  WEST 


19 


Grapes  that  the  Boston  Marine  Association  held 
its  meetings. 

The  partners  procured  and  made  ready  for  sea 
a  ship,  the  Columbia,  and  a  little  sloop,  the  Lady 
Waihington.  The  vessels  were  stocked  with  trin- 
kets to  trade  with  the  natives  for  furs.  The  voy- 
a^  was  to  be  a  long  one,  around  the  Horn,  around 
the  whole  world,  indeed,  for  the  Columbia  would 
sail  from  the  Pacific  coast  to  China,  there  exchange 
a  cargo  of  furs  for  a  cargo  of  tea  and  silk,  and 
return  home  to  Boston.  It  was  the  1st  of  Octo- 
ber before  all  was  ready  for  the  voyage.  Then, 
after  the  usual  celebrations  on  board,  the  Columbia, 
under  command  of  John  Kendrick,  and  the  Lady 
Washington,  under  command  of  Robert  Gray, 
lifted  anchor  and  put  out  to  sea,  and  the  partners 
went  back  to  their  daily  round  to  await  the  return 
of  the  Columbia  with  a  rich  cargo  from  China. 

Nearly  three  years  rolled  by.  Then,  one  day  in 
August,  1790,  into  Boston  harbor  sailed  Robert 
Gray  on  the  Columbia.  He  and  Kendrick  had 
spent  two  seasons  gathering  furs  on  the  coast ;  there 
they  Lad  found  the  British  trader  Meares  and  had 
seen  his  post  raided  by  the  Spaniard  Don  Mar- 
tinez; they  had  exchanged  ships  in  the  Pacific, 
where  Kendrick  remained  to  continue  the  trade. 


20  ADVENTUREBS  OF  OREGON 

Gray  had  taken  the  furs  to  Canton  aud  now 
brought  home  a  cargo  of  tea.  The  furs  had  not 
sold  well  in  Canton;  perhaps  Gray  was  not  a  good 
traj'er;  at  all  events,  the  results  in  trade  were  dis- 
appointing. But,  for  the  moment,  the  partners 
forgot  their  losses.  Had  net  their  own  ship,  the 
Columbia,  circumnavigated  the  globe?  All  Boston 
turned  out  in  its  best  attire  to  welcome  Gray  as  he 
marched  up  the  street  followed  by  his  Hawaiian  at- 
tendant in  a  bright  feathered  cloak;  and  Governor 
John  Hancock  held  a  reception  in  his  honor. 

The  partners  met  once  more  in  Bulfinch's  li- 
brary. Two  of  them  decided  to  withdraw,  but  the 
others  considered  the  prospects  promising  enough 
to  warrant  a  second  venture.  So  the  good  sh?p 
Columbia  was  overhauled  and  made  ready  for  sea 
again. 

On  September  28,  1790,  Robert  Gray  sailed  out 
of  Boston  harbor  on  his  second  voyage  around  the 
Horn.  On  June  5,  1791,  he  arrived  at  Clayoquot, 
the  American  trading  post  on  Vancouver  Island. 
That  summer  the  Yankee  adventurers  fared  not 
too  well.  Gray  sailed  as  far  north  as  Portland 
channel,  where  some  of  his  men  were  murdered 
by  hostile  Indians.  His  comrade  in  adventure, 
Kendrick  of  the  Lady  Washington,  also  met  with 


I 


I 


TOE  RIVER  OF  THE  WEST  n 

tragedy     The  natives  of  Queen  Charlotte  Island 
attadced  Kendrick's  ship  and  his  men  on  shore- 
and  his  son  was  among  the  slain.     The  two  ships 
returned  to  Clayoquot  in  September  and  Kendrick 
3et  out  for  China  vith  the  furs.     Gray  erected  at 
Clayoquot  a  fort  and  constructed  a  little  sloop 
named  the  Adventure,  which  he  put  under  com- 
mand of  Haswell,  his  second  officer.     The  Indians 
about  Clayoquot  were  not  friendly,  and  during  the 
wmter  Gray  and  his  men  were  obliged  to  exercise 
constant  watchfubcss  to  avert  u  meditated  attack 
On  Apnl  2,  1792.  both  vessels  left  Clayoquot.  the 
Advmure  turning  north  for  trade  and  the  Colum- 
bia  dropping  southward.     Perhaps  Gray  was  only 
bent  on  finding  new  trading  fields,  for  sea  otter 
were  still  plentiful  to  the  south  of  Vancouver  Is- 
land.    Yet  his  movements  suggest  that  he  may 
have  been  consciously  exploring,  searching  for  that 
passage   which   was  supposed  to  lie  somewhere 
hidden,  or  for  the  River  of  the  West. 

It  was  in  October.  1790.  the  month  fo.iowing  the 
Columbuis  departure  from  Boston,  that  England 
and  Spam  signed  the  articles  relative  to  Nootka 
and  to  mutual  rights  on  the  Pacific.  In  December 
George  Vancouver,  a  British  naval  officer,  who  had 


!iUj 


r' 


'i'ftl 


22  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

sailed  with  Cook  as  a  midshipman,  received  his  com- 
mission to  go  to  Nootka  to  take  over  from  Spanish 
emissaries  the  land  seized  by  Martinez  and  to  ex- 
plore. Vancouver's  ships  left  Falmouth,  England, 
on  April  1, 1791.  They  rounded  the  Capf  of  Good 
Hope,  crossed  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  sailed  along 
the  wtstem  coast  of  Australia,  made  Van  Diemen's 
Land,  New  Zealand,  the  Society  Islands,  and  the 
Saadwich  Islands,  whence  they  set  sail  for  the 
Northwest  Coast  of  America.  They  sighted  that 
coast  in  39'  north  latitude  on  April  17, 1792.  At 
dawn  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  same  month, 
as  they  headed  northward,  the  English  mariners 
descried  a  sail,  the  first  they  had  seen  in  many 
months  of  wandering  over  the  watery  wilderness. 
The  strenger  ship  declared  herself  by  firing  a  gun 
and  sending  the  American  colors  to  the  masthead. 
The  Discovery,  under  Vancouver's  personal  com- 
mand, hove  to  for  an  exchange  of  greetings  and 
news.  The  American  vessel  was  the  Columbia,  and 
her  commander.  Captain  Robert  Gray,  informed 
Vancouver  that  he  had  recently  lain  for  nine  days 
off  the  mouth  of  a  large  river  where  the  reflux  was 
so  violent  that  he  dared  not  attempt  to  enter.  Gray 
had  also  sailed  for  many  miles  through  the  narrow 
waters  of  the  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca  and  was  now 


THE  RIVER  OF  THE  WEST  <a 

heading  south  again,  to  make  a  second  attempt  to 
enter  the  river  which  lay  behind  the  forbidding 
foam-dashed  wall  of  Cape  Disappointment. 

Despite  the  information  given  him  by  the  Amer- 
ican, Vancouver  believed  that  he  could  not  have 
passed  any  "safe  navigable  opening."    He  had  in- 
deed noted  in  his  journal,  in  passing  Cape  Disap- 
pomtment,  that  he  had  not  considered  "this  open- 
ing worthy  of  further  attention."     Gray's  news 
impressed  him  therefore  but  slightly.     He  jotted 
down   in  regard  to  it:  "If  any  river  should  be 
found,  It  must  be  a  very  intricate  one  and  inacces- 
sible to  vessels  of  our  burden."    He  pushed  on 
northward.     He  discovered  and  explored  Puget 
Sound,  naming  it  after  one  of  his  lieutenants.     He 
named  Momit  Baker  in  honor  of  another  lieuten- 
ant who  was  the  first  man  on  board  to  descry  that 
white  crown  of  beauty.     He  explored  the  mainland 
of  British  Columbia  and.  circumnavigating  the  is- 
land that  now  bears  his  own  name,  swung  down 
to  Nootka  where  the  Spanish  Commissioner,  Don 
Quadra,  awaited  him. 

But  of  far  greater  moment  was  the  feat  which 
Robert  Gray,  the  Yankee  seaman  and  fur  trader, 
had  m  the  meantime  accomplished.    Grsy  had 


f  I" 

1  : 


84  ADVENTUREBS  OP  OREGON 

run  his  ship  past  the  spur  of  Cape  Disappointment 
and  into  the  mouth  of  the  great  river.  This  is  the 
entry  he  made  in  his  log,  May  7,  1798: 

Being  within  six  miles  of  the  land,  saw  an  entrance 
m  the  same,  which  had  a  very  good  appearance  of  a 
harbor.  .  .  .  We  soon  saw  from  our  masthead  a 
passage  in  between  the  sand-bars.  At  half  past  three 
bore  away,  and  ran  in  north-east  by  east,  having  from 
four  to  eight  fathoms,  sandy  bottom;  and,  as  we  drew 
in  nearer  between  the  bars,  had  from  ten  to  thirteen 
fathoms,  having  a  very  strong  tide  of  ebb  to  stem.  . 
At  five  P.M.  came  to  in  five  fathoms  water,  sandy 
bottom,  in  a  safe  harbor,  well  sheltered  from  the  sea 
by  long  sand-bars  and  spits. 

Within  the  harbor  the  Columbia  was  speedily  sur- 
rounded by  Indians  in  canoes,  and  trading  con- 
tinued briskly  for  several  days.  The  canoes  hav- 
ing departed,  the  Columbia  "hove  up  the  anchor, 
and  came  to  sail  and  a-beating  down  the  harbor." 
By  the  nth  of  May,  Gray  was  ready  to  attempt 
the  entrance  of  the  river  itself.  This  is  how  he 
narrates  that  historic  event: 

At  eight  A.M.  being  a  little  to  windward  of  the  en- 
trance of  the  Harbor,  bore  away,  and  run  in  east- 
north-east  between  the  breakers,  having  from  five  to 
seven  fathoms  of  water.  When  we  were  over  the  bar, 
we  found  this  to  be  a  large  river  of  fresh  water,  up 


THE  RIVER  OF  THE  WEST 


iS 


which  we  steered.  At  one  p.m.  came  to  with  the 
smaU  bower,  in  ten  fathoms,  black  and  white  sand, 
ihe  entrance  between  the  bars  bore  west -south-west 
distant  ten  miles;  the  north  side  of  the  river  a  half  mile 
distant  from  the  ship;  the  sojth  side  of  the  same  two 
and  a  half  miles'  distan.  -;  a  village  on  the  north  side 
of  the  nver  west  by  north,  distant  three-quarters  of  a 
mile.  Vast  numbers  of  natives  came  alongside;  people 
employed  m  pumping  the  salt  water  out  of  our  water- 
casks,  m  order  to  fill  with  fresh,  while  the  ship  floated 
in.    So  ends. 

Not  an  imaginative  man.  this  Robert  Gray,  and 
no  stylist.     He  had  found  the  great  River  of  the 
West.     He  had  made  fact  of  the  myth  beloved  of 
the  ancient  mariners.     And  he  sets  down  his  dis- 
covery laconically  as  if  it  were  no  more  than  an 
incident  of  a  trading  voyage  —  just  one  brief  mat- 
ter-of-fact paragraph  and  So  ends!    It  is  almost, 
indeed,  as  if  he  considered  the  discovery  of  this 
river,  which  he  named  the  Columbia,  unimpor- 
tant.    Other  sea  wanderers  had  .sought  it;  some 
of  them  had  even  fancifully  charted  it.  so  great 
had  been  their  faith.     Explorers,  dreaming  of  vast 
mland  seas  and  golden  rivers,  of  jeweled  cities  to  be 
discovered  and  of  colonies  to  be  founded  —  some 
of  them  scientific  men.  too  — seeking  this  river 
had  passed  it  by. 


r 


J- 


■  'M 


I.,  s  l;i 


«  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

But,  if  Robert  Gray  waa  no  writer,  we  may 
neverthele«a,  from  his  terse  jottings,  read  the  char- 
acter of  a  man  too  Hteral-minded  to  suspect  other 
men  of  the  gift  for  arUstic  fable  —  a  matter-of- 
fact  man  who  reasoned  that,  if  Bruno  Heceta  had 
felt  the  ci-rent  made  by  a  river,  then  the  river 
which  made  the  current  was  there  —  and,  more,  a 
man  of  plain  courage,  an  experienced  sailor  with  iin 
impartial  estimate  of  his  own  seamanship  and  with 
a  mind  not  to  be  appealed  to  by  the  things  that 
touch  imaginative  men  with  fear;  one  who  saw 
merely  wij.-ls  to  beat  against  and  tides  to  gage 
and  ma^e  u^e  of,  where  other  men  saw  a  Cape 
Disappointment  looming  over  the  grave  of  ships. 
Gray  sold  his  furs  ia  China  and  returned  to 
Boston  in   1793.     The  results  must  have  fallen 
below  expectations,  for  he  was  not  sent  out  again. 
Kendrick  of  the  Lady  Washington  was  killed  in 
Hawaii  by  a  gun  explosion.     Gray's  discovery  ap- 
parently impressed  the  public  little  more  than  it 
had  impressed  Gray  himself,  for  it  was  not  followed 
up  in  any  way  for  some  years.     Neither  recogni- 
tion nor  wealth  was  bestowed  upon  the  discover- 
er.    Gray  died  in  1806  at  Charleston,  and  he  died 
in  poverty. 


CHAPTER  II 


LEWIS   AND    CLARK 

Though  Gray  suffered  eclipse,  and  though  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  maintained  an 
attitude  of  indifference  towards  his  discovery,  there 
was  one  American  statesman  with  that  vision  of 
his  nation's  natural  domain  which  had  inspired 
the  sweeping  phrase  "from  sea  to  sea"  in  the  char- 
ters granted  to  the  first  English  colonists.    Thomas 
Jefferson  drea-ned  of  expansion  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
for  at  least  twenty  years  before  the  way  opened 
to  put  his  desire  into  effect.     In  December,  1783. 
he  had  written  on  this  matter  to  Geoi^  Rogers 
Clark,  whose  military  genius  during  the  Revolution 
had  given  the  young  Republic  its  farthest  western 
boundary.     The  fact  that  the  British  at  this  time 
entertained  the  idea  of  exploration  overland  ap- 
parently had  its  influence  on  Jefferson,  for  he  wrote : 
I  find  they  have  subscribed  a  very  large  sum  of 
money  in  Engla^l  for  exploring  the  country  from  the 


I 


«8  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

Miuinippi  to  California.  They  pretend  it  is  only  to 
promote  knowledge.  I  am  afraid  they  have  thoughti 
of  colonising  into  that  quarter.  Some  of  us  have  been 
Ulking  here  in  a  feeble  way  of  making  the  attempt  to 
search  that  country.  But  I  doubt  whether  we  have 
enough  of  that  kind  of  spirit  to  raise  the  money.  How 
would  you  like  to  lead  such  a  party?  tho  I  am  afraid 
our  prospect  is  not  worth  asking  the  question. 

Jefferson's  doubts  us  to  the  prospects  were 
evidently  justified,  for  nothing  was  done.  Three 
years  later  in  Paris,  as  American  Minister,  Jeffer- 
son listened  sympathetically  to  a  young  country- 
man named  John  Ledyard,  who  had  sailed  with 
Cook  and  who  was  eager  to  cross  the  continent 
from  the  North  Pacific.  His  plan  included  the 
establishment  of  trading  posts  and  the  explora- 
tion of  the  intervening  unknown  territory  for  the 
purpose  of  laying  claim  to  it  in  the  name  of  his 
country.  Jefferson  gave  Ledyard  the  only  assist- 
ance in  his  power,  which  was  to  request  the  Em- 
press of  Russia  to  permit  Ledyard  to  cross  her 
domains.  She  refused,  but  nevertheless  the  young 
explorer  set  out  to  traverse  Siberia  to  Kamchatka, 
whence  he  was  to  go  by  sea  to  Nootka,  and  essay 
the  crossing  of  the  continent.  In  Siberia  he  was 
arrested  by  the  Russian  authorities,  who  were 
aware  of  his  plans  with  regard  to  the  fur  trade, 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  gg 

and  was  carried  back  to  Poland.    He  made  his 
way  to  France  and  presently  joined  an  exploring 
expedition  bound  for  Africa.    There  he  perished. 
The  American  chronicles  of  these  years  are  all 
but  silent  on  the  theme  of  PaciHe  exploration.     In 
1793,  the  year  after  Gray's  discovery  of  the  River 
of  the  West,  Jefferson  made  a  positive  effort  to  set 
an  expedition  on  the  way  to  the  Pacific  by  land. 
Again,  as  in   1783,  apparently  he  did  not  find 
"enough  cf  that  kind  of  spirit  to  raise  the  money" 
among  the  elect  of  Congress,  for  it  was  the  Ameri- 
can Philosophical  Society  which  responded  to  his 
plea.    A  French  botanist  named  Andr6  Michaux 
was  chosen  to  make  the  journey  in  the  interests  of 
science.     If  the  selection  of  Michaux  satisfied  the 
American  Philosophical  Society,  it  did  not  at  all 
please  a  certain  Virginian   youth  who  was  one 
of  Jefferson's  friends.     This  youth,  who  was  just 
finishing  his  education  at  a  Latin  school,  was  more 
than  willing  to  forgo  further  literary  wanderings 
in  the  company  of  Virgil's  hero  for  the  sake  of 
writing  in  action  an  epic  of  his  own  on  the  virgin 
soil  of  the  West.     But  Meriwether  Lewis,  at  eight- 
een years  of  age,  failed  to  convince  the  philosophers 
or  Jefferson  that  he  possessed  the  qualifications 
and  experience  requisite  to  make  a  success  of  the 


, ,    I 


30  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

venture.  The  wise  men  might  better  have  en- 
trusted  their  affair  to  this  valiant  American  boy 
than  to  the  Frenchman  Michaux,  for  no  sooner 
had  the  botanist  reached  Kentucky  than  his  scien- 
tific mind  revolted  from  the  peaceful  study  of  sta- 
mens and  pistils  and  exercised  itself  busily  with 
military  intrigue. 

Another  decade  elapsed  without  further  prog- 
ress, though  the  passing  years  were  not  without 
their  events  and  their  lessons.    Spain  conceded  to 
Americans  the  right  of  navigation  on  the  Missis- 
sippi; but,  before  the  concession,  the  secret  machi- 
nations of  Spanish  agents  had  kept  the  trans- 
Appalachian  commonwealths  in  perpetual  ferment. 
The  diplomacy  of  Spain  in  respect  to  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  however,  served  the  purpose  of 
arousing  the  American  authorities  to  the  danger 
threatening  the  young  Republic  — the  danger  of 
being  hemmed  in  on  three  sides  by  hostile  powers 
and  thus  barred  from  expansion.    In  1800  Spain 
secretly  ceded  Louisiana  to  France,  stipulating  that 
the  territory  should  not  be   ceded  to  any  other 
power  without  Spain's  consent.    The  transfer  be- 
came known  to  American  statesmen  and  increased 
their  uneasiness.    On  the  north,  in  Canada,  were 
the  none  too  friendly  British;  to  the  south  were 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  si 

the  Spanish;  and  now  Louisiana,  with  its  vast  and 
undefined  boundaries,  had  come  into  the  possession 
of  France  —  the  militaristic  Prance  of  Napoleon 
Bonaparte.    And,  in  1802,  Napoleon  was  planning 
a  military  and  colonizing  expedition  to  New  Orleans 
tostranglethecommerce  of  the  United  States  on  the 
Mississippi  and  to  occupy  his  new  colonial  empire 
lying  between  that  river  and  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Meanwhile,  in  March,  1801,  Jefferson  had  be- 
come President  of  the  United  States.     He  made 
two  attempts  to  purchase  from  France  and  Spain 
New  Orleans  and  the  Floridas.     His  failure  in  both 
instances  no  doubt  had  not  a  little  to  do  with  the 
determination  he  reached  in  January,  1803,  to  send 
an  expedition  to  the  Pacific  coast  —  to  the  mouth 
of  that  River  of  the  West  discovered  in  1792  by 
Robert  Gray.     Because  the  expedition  must  pro- 
ceed as  far  as  the  Rockies  across  country  which 
lay  within  the  vague  boundaries  of  Louisiana  and 
which  therefore  was  foreign  soil,  its  true  character 
and  intents  must  be  kept  secret.     So  Jefferson,  in 
the  private  message  sent  by  him  to  Congress, 
asked  for  an  appropriation  of  $2500  for  a  "literary 
pursuit." 

While  other  civilized  nations  have  encountered  great 
expense  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  knowledge  by 


»,• 


'4 


i!     ffl 


i'M 


'lis'  ' 


M 


82  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

undertaking  voyages  of  discovery,  and  for  other  liter- 
ary purposes,  in  various  parU  and  directions,  our  na- 
tion seems  to  owe  to  the  same  object,  as  well  as  to  its 
own  mterests,  to  explore  this  the  only  line  of  easy 
communication  across  the  continent,  and  so  directly 
traversing  our  own  part  of  it.     The  interests  of  com- 
merce place  the  principal  object  within  the  constitu- 
tional powers  and  care  of  Congress,  and  that  it  should 
mcidenUlly  advance  the  geographical  knowledge  of 
our  own  continent  can  not  but  be  an  additional  grati- 
fication.    The  nation  claiming  the  territory,  regard- 
mg  this  as  a  literary  pursuit,  which  it  is  in  the  habit  of 
permitting  within  its  dominions,  would  not  be  disposed 
to  view  it  with  jealousy.  ...    The  appropriation  of 
$8500  "for  the  purpose  of  extending  the  external  com- 
merce of  the  United  States,"  while  understood  and 
considered  by  the  Executive  as  giving  the  legislative 
sanction,  would  cover  the  undertaking  from  notice  and 
prevent  the  obstructions  which  interested  individuals 
might  otherwise  previously  prepare  in  its  way. 

While  Jefferson's  expedition  was  in  preparation 
in  the  spring  of  1803,  it  happened  that  Napoleon 
experienced  a  change  of  heart  in  regard  to  Louisi- 
ana because  the  Mistress  of  the  Seas  was  clearing 
her  decks  for  war  on  him.  Napoleon  was  now  anx- 
ious to  get  rid  not  of  New  Orleans  alone  but  of  the 
whole  territory.  Whatever  motives  may  have  con- 
tributed to  his  swift  decision,  he  took  satisfaction 
in  the  belief  that  he  had  given  England  a  rival  that 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  33 

should  one  day  humble  her  pride.  That  no  spirit 
of  good-will  towards  the  United  SUtes  inspired 
him  is  evident  from  his  remark  that  the  Louisiana 
territory  "shall  one  day  cost  dearer  to  those  who 
oblige  me  to  strip  myself  of  it,  than  to  those  to 
whom  I  wish  to  deliver  it." 

In  fact.  Napoleon  believed  that  he  was  selling  to 
the  United  States,  at  a  stiff  price,  a  Pandora's  Box 
of  troubles.     Some  of  his  malign  prophecies  had  a 
temporary  fulfillment.   In  biblical  language,  whicu 
narrates  evils  as  transient  experiences,  they  "came 
to  pass  "  —  came  and  passed.    And  we  may  won- 
der today  what  thoughts  would  have  agitated  the 
mind  of  Napoleon  if  he  could  have  seen  the  fleets 
of  England  and  America  keeping  guard  together  in 
the  North  Sea  while,  on  the  soil  of  France,  Britons 
from  five  lands  fought  side  by  side  with  Americans 
and  Frenchmen  for  France ;  or  could  he  ha ve  looked 
upon  an  American  people  unified  from  coast  to 
coast  and  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  Canadian 
line,  with  little  else  than  a  yearly  Mardi  Gras  Car- 
nival at  New  Orieans  to  remind  them  that  the 
Louisiana  territory,  forming  now  the  greater  part 
of  thirteen   States,   was   once  in  the  possession 
of  a  hostile  France  and  was  sold  to  America  with 
a  curse. 


Ill 


V  > 


f^; 


Hi 


'iii 


V,-.  ■  (i| 
■ft; 


nu 


34  ADVENTrniERS  OF  OREGON 

Jefferson  paid  for  Louisiana  $15,000,000. 


The 


treaty  of  purchase  was  signed  in  May,  the  month 
of  England's  declaration  of  war,  and  ratified  by 
the  Senate  in  October,  1803.  It  will  be  seen  that 
Napoleon  did  not  allow  the  conditions  of  his  treaty 
with  Spain  to  stand  in  his  way.  Spain,  however, 
could  do  nothing  but  suffer  indignantly.  Jefferson's 
expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  would 
make  its  way  westward  across  allAmerican  territory. 
The  Fates  seemed  propitious  for  the  enterprise. 

Having  won  the  cooperation  of  Congress,  Jeffer- 
son's next  move  was  to  select  a  leader.  His  choice 
fell  upon  that  same  young  Virginian  who,  ten  years 
before,  had  advanced  his  claim  against  that  of 
the  unstable  French  botanist.  Meriwether  Lewis 
since  then  had  gone  far  to  qualify  himself  for  the 
great  adventure.  He  had  become  a  captain  in  the 
regular  army  and  had  taken  a  gallant  part  in 
the  frontier  wars;  and,  as  Jefferson's  private  secre 
tary  since  1801,  he  had  convinced  the  President 
of  his  fitness  to  lead  the  expedition.  Li  Jefferson's 
Memoir  we  find  the  following: 

I  had  now  had  opportunities  of  knowing  him  inti- 
mately. Of  courage  undaunted ;  possessing  a  firmness 
and  perseverance  of  purpose  which  nothing  but  im- 
possibilities could  divert  from  its  direction;  careful  as  a 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  33 

father  of  those  committed  to  his  charge,  yet  steady  in 
the  mamtenance  of  order  and  discipline;  intimate  with 
the  Indian  character,  customs,  and  principles;  habitu- 
ated to  the  hunting  life;  guarded,  by  exact  observation 
of  the  vegetables  and  animals  of  his  own  country, 
against  losing  time  in  the  description  of  objects  al- 
ready possessed;  honest,  disinterested,  liberal,  of  sound 
imderstanding,  and  a  fidelity  to  truth  so  scrupulous 
that  whatever  he  should  report  would  be  as  certain  as 
If  seen  by  ourselves  -  with  all  these  qualifications,  as 
If  selected  bi.J  implanted  by  nature  in  one  body  for  this 
express  purpose,  T  could  have  no  hesitution  in  confiding 
the  enterprise  to  him. 

Portraits  of  Lewis  confirm  Jefferson's  description. 
They  show  a  finely  formed  head  and  a  face  elo- 
quent of  courage,  of  integrity,  and  inteUigence. 

Lewis  took  up  the  desired  task  with  energy. 
Conscious  of  his  need  of  astronomy  and  natural 
science  in  order  to  make  faithful  geographical 
notes,  he  spent  some  time  in  Philadelphia  "under 
tutorage  of  the  distinguished  professors  of  that 
place."  He  personally  supervised  the  construc- 
tion of  the  necessary  boats  and  arms;  and  he  wrote 
to  his  friend,  William  Clark,  inviting  him  to  join  in 
the  splendid  adventure  and  offering  him  equality 
with  himself  in  command  and  honors.  William 
Clark,  then  with  his  brother.  George  Rogers  Clark, 
at  Clarksville,  Tennessee,  where  Lewis  desired  him 


!!( 


1 1 

i 

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n 

i  i 

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'1 

i| 

i 

V 


38  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

to  enlist  frontiersmen  for  the  expedition,  accepted 
the  invitation  with  a  hght-heartedness  equal  to 
his  friend's.  It  is  this  enthusiasm,  bubbling  fre- 
quently into  mirth,  which  makes  Lewis  and  Clark's 
journals  —  even  when  the  journals  record  days  of 
peril  and  severe  hardship  —  such  live  reading. 

William  Clark,  born  in  Virginia  in  1770,  was 
four  years  older  than  Lewis.     He  had  joined  his 
brother,  George  Rogers,  in  Louisville  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  and  had  fought  in  the  Indian  wars,  first 
under  his  brother  and  later  under  Charles  Scott 
and  "Mad  Anthony"  Wayne.     He  was  described 
in  1791  as  "a  youth  of  solid  and  promising  parts, 
and  as  brave  as  Cesar."     He  was  a  tall  man, 
strongly  built,  with  bright  red  hair  and  blue  eyes; 
his  brow  was  broad,  his  not  handsome  features 
were  strongly  marked,  and  the  expression  of  his 
countenance  was  friendly  and  firm.    As  a  young 
officer  under  Wayne  he  had  acquitted  himself  with 
a  dignity  and  an  adroitness  beyond  his  years  on 
important  missions  to  the  Spanish  authorities  in 
Louisiana.    But  he  was  no  scholar,  as  the  original 
spelling  in  his  journal  shows. 

The  personnel  of  the  expedition  included  forty- 
three  men  besides  the  two  leaders.  The  men,  nearly 
all  of  them  young,  were  enlisted  from  among  the 


r; 


>ir. 


tiiiiiii.t  (n!iinrl>ri«-i;  fitf  th- i'\|>.-<!|1i,it,    :ictfp'.(M 
t.'ir    )nvit;il;„.    v.itli    n    ■]-Ul-hc:irf     ,    ■       ...jUu!    I., 
hi.s  fri.ii.r,,.      li   I,    u,,.  iTitlii,  .i.,<[r. 
ijUinllv  in!f>  mirtli,  nliiolimak,-^  f...... ,    , 

journal.-,  -    even  wli.ii  t:  ,    icuriials  ffooai  .i  ;y 
!>■  ril  and  -.,    err  hani.-liip  ■     -,jr|i  livo  fim.Imi^'. 

WUliam  Clark.  b,.iii  1,1  Virirmi;,  i,,  1770,  -.v.^^ 
i-.ir  yivir.f  ..Iricr  tl,,,ii  I,,  v.,..  IK-  liixi  joim-J  l.iV 
'.r„lhrr,  G.-orp   T?,  ...  ,.    ;  ,  j   ,,.„.  ;i;,.  .^.  .j,.   ..,„.  „r 

JtAIq  x*«U«0  nanwio')  tt\t  at  .oim-iW  .i8  xd  ^lUl^ir^pS 

■""'     '■■;  '■•       jioisdidww      r.  IV ^. ,.,.,,.  „,i 

II!  r.Oi  ,ij  -u  >i,uth  i'  ,..ii<l  iiiid  pronii.vinj,'  parts, 
.n^l  ...,  I,r;i-.c  .».,  t  ,,  ..,r,  II,.  h-j.s  „  uil  m.Hii. 
^tri.nsj.v  win.  with  i,rt8l;)  •..,(  hiir  Unl  I. In.-  ,.jx.s 
fii~:  brow  -A'a.-  I>f'i-<.l    •i—   1 


vviTv  ^Inmi^lj-  I,' 


rxprc«ion  of  'I'n 


coinilcti.in.r  Wii>  fn.n,tl.v  ami  hrm.  As  a  y.ouiiy 
oUi.iT  ii-idi  r  WHvni'  he  had  acfiuittfd  luin.flf  »  if  h 
i.  dignity  aii-i  :iii  lulroiti  .-.s  l>,-v,.:.,|  j,;,:  ...» irs  i>n 
iiriptii'taiit  i,u.-isiori>  lo  Ihi'  -p„iii.-)i.  :u,l!,ur:1i(...s  in 
Li.iiU;«ii;i  H.it  lir  v.;i.~  ■„.  .ri,,,:.,,  ;is  t i,r  .,ri;,'i-ia! 
sp(  iliiig  ill  his  joiirnii  -tiov.--,, 

Tb.- p'?rM..ii!i,-i  111'  Hi-  .-vivliiMri  ■■noUi.!  "1  forty- 
'f  -ic  Mien  hHsid,>s  11,,..  t  vo  ],;,'\,:r-  I'hv  mm,  lu-ariy 
-^'  .'f  rh«im  \!)i;rii.',  ner,-  (■nli.stid  fr.iii!  Hint.ni:  ;lie 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  S7 

Kentucky  frontiersmen  and  from  the  western  gar- 
risons. Among  the  Kentucky  volunteers  were  sons, 
or  other  kin.  of  the  men  who  had  first  crossed 
the  Appalachians  with   Daniel  Boone  and  who 
had   held   Kentucky  through  the   bloody  Indi- 
an raids  of  the  Revolution  and  won  the  Illinois 
country  under  the  leadership  of  George  Rogers 
Clark.    Some  of  the  regular  army  men,  indeed, 
were  taken  Trom  the  Kaskaskia  garrison.    One  of 
the  young  frontiersmen  was  Charles  Floyd,  a  kins- 
man of  that  John  Floyd  who  fought  in  Dunmore's 
War,  the  war  which  pushed  the  white  man's  fron- 
tier from  the  Appalachians  to  the  Ohio  River  —  in 
the  year  1774.  the  year  of  Meriwether  Lewis's  birth. 
The  guide  was  a  Frenchman  named  Charboneau, 
who  brought  with  him  his  Indian  wife  Sacajawea. 
the  Bird-Woman.    Clark's  servant  York,         ige 
black  man.  accompanied  hi.,  master.    The  t..fee 
boats  specially  built  to  convey  the  expedition  up 
the  Missouri  River  were  two  pirogues  and  a  bateau 
fifty-five  feet  long,  which  was  propelled  by  a  sail 
and  twenty-two  oars  and  boasted  a  forecastle  and 
cabin.    Besides  arms  and  munitions,  the  bales 
in  the  boats  contained  p-esents  for  the  Indians, 
mathematical  instruments,  medicines,  meal,  and 
pork,  and  a  variety  of  camp  equipment. 


i        1 


H/;M 


I    l'I 


)  ; 


38  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

The  explorers  wintered  ut  the  mouth  of  the 
Wood  River  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri, 
waitmg  till  spring  should  dissolve  the  i«-.  break- 
ing the  routine  of  their  camp  by  frequent  hunting 
trips.    On  May  U,  1804,  to  quote  Clark,  having 
crossed  the  Mississippi,  they  "proceeded  on  under 
a  Jentic  brease  up  the  Missourie."    The  speed  of 
their  boats,  under  favorable  conditions,  was  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  miles  a  day.     On  the  afternoon 
of  the  sixteenth,  Clark  with  the  boats  reached  St. 
Charles,  twenty-five  miles  up  the  stream,  and  here 
Lewis,  who  had  been  detained  at  St.  Louis,  joined 
him  on  the  twentieth.     They  set  out  the  next 
day,  making  slow  progress  because  of   shifting 
sand  bars  and  crumbling  cliffs.     Once,  at  least, 
a  falling  bank  almost  swamped  one  of  the  pi- 
rogues and  the  men  had  to  jump  overboard  and 
hold  the  boat  steady  until  the  current  swept  away 
the  sand. 

After  four  days  of  such  travel  they  reached  La 
Charette,  a  tiny  village  and  the  last  outpost  of 
civilization.  Here  Daniel  Boone  was  living  at  this 
time,  filling  the  oflSce  of  syndic,  or  magistrate;  and 
here  the  explorers  hove  to  for  the  night,  pitching 
camp  just  above  the  village.  On  the  next  day  they 
said  farewell  to  the  last  white  habitation  they  were 


LEWIS  AND  CUBK  39 

to  «*  until  their  return  two  years  later  and  pushed 
on  into  the  unknown. 

Their  troubles  with  sand  bars,  snags,  and  falling 
banks  continued,  but  they  met  those  troubles  gaily 
Frequently  they  stopped  for  hunting,  for  forty- 
five  lusty  explorers  could  consume  a  goodly  quan- 
tity of  fresh  meat.  They  were  not  yet  quite  alone 
m  the  wilderness,  for  sometimes  they  met  the  de- 
scending pirogues  of  trappers  and  hunters  who  were 
brmging  their  winter's  harvest  of  furs  and  deer- 
skins to  St.  Louis.  From  one  of  these  parties  they 
engaged  an  interpreter  named  Dorion  to  facilitate 
their  intercourse  with  the  Siouan  tribes  through 
whose  territory  they  would  pass. 

By  the  middle  of  June,  mosquitoes  and  flies  were 
upon  them  in  clouds.  In  places  the  driftwood  and 
snags  were  so  thick  that  they  must  chop  their  way 
through  them.  Their  oars  were  already  worn  out 
and  they  were  obliged  to  cut  timber  and  shape 
new  ones.  On  the  twenty-sixth  they  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  Kansas  River,  having  traveled  some 
three  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  their  starting 
pomt  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  Where  Kan- 
sas City  stands  now,  Lewis  and  Clark  found  the 
lower  villages  of  the  Kaw  or  Kansas  Indians,  a 
tribe  "not  verry  noumerous  at  this  time."  owing 


•IM 


ui  I 


I  'i 


*0  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

to  wars.    An  important  part  of  Lewis's  duties,  in 
accordance  with  Jefferson's  instructions,  was  to  es- 
tablish trade  relations  with  the  Indians  along  the 
route  and  to  make  them  understand  that  the  terri- 
tory wherein  they  dwelt  was  now  a  part  of  the 
United  States  whose  President  was  the  Indians' 
Great  Father.    In  the  interests  of  science,  as  well 
as  of  commerce,  Lewis  was  also  to  learn  whatever 
he  could  of  Indian  habits  and  languages  and  to 
note  the  differences  and  similarities  between  the 
various  tribes.    His  copious  notes  in  A  StaiwHcal 
View  of  the  Indian  Nations  InkabUing  the  Tenilary 
of  Louisiana  furnish  us,  indeed,  with  the  only  infor- 
mation we  have  concerning  some  of  the  tribes  of 
that  time  as  they  were  before  contact  with  the 
white  race  had  changed  them. 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  celebrated  near  the  site 
of  the  present  Atchison,  Kansas,  by  firing  a  salute 
and  by  a  dance.  There  was  a  fiddler  among  the 
men  and  he  and  his  fiddle  did  their  tuneful  service 
on  all  occasions  when  there  was  a  fete  day  to  honor 
or  when  a  succession  of  hardships  had  tinged 
the  crew's  mood  with  glumness.  Throughout  the 
whole  march,  when  the  shadow  of  defeat  crept 
down,  it  was  banished  by  a  round  of  grog  and  the 
sound  of  the  fiddle  caUing  on  the  men  to  dance. 


LEWIS  AND  CLABK  41 

And  they  danced.    Sometimes  hungry,  sometimes 
sure  that  the  dangers  already  experienced  had  led 
them  only  into  an  impasse  where  they  were  about 
to  perish,  often  sore-footed  and  spent,  they  danced 
—  and  all  was  well  again.    On  this  first  Independ- 
ence Day  in  the  wilderness  the  captains  not  only 
ordered  a  salute  and  a  dance,  but  they  had  a  chris- 
tenmg  as  well.    They  named  two  creeks  Fourth- 
of-July  and  Independence.    The  latter  still  ripples 
under  the  name  give.,  it  by  its  godfathers,  Lewis 
and  Clark,  perhaps  the  first  white  men  to  spy  its 
waters. 

On  the  3d  of  August  Lewis  held  council  with 
chiefs  of  the  Otoes.  a  branch  of  the  Pawnees,  on  a 
cli£F  about  twenty  miles  above  the  present  city  of 
Omaha.  This  cliff  Lewis  and  Clark  named  the 
Council  Bluff.  Lewis  was  the  chief  spokesman  at 
the  council,  while  Clark  "Mad  up  a  Small  prea- 
sent  for  those  people  in  perpotion  to  their  Consi- 
quence."    Speeches  were  made  by  the  chiefs  in 

answer  to  Lewis's"talk,"andgifts  were  exchanged. 
With  buffalo  robes  and  painted  skin  tents  the  chiefs 
responded  to  the  medals  and  gold-braided  uniforms 
bestowed  upon  them.  Here  Liberty,  a  Frenchman, 
deserted  and,  although  searched  for,  was  not  to  be 
found;  but  a  soldier.  Reed,  who  attempted  the 


m 


■it;- 


!l!'l 


m 


i.t  ,; 


I  ■ 


48  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

same  thing  was  recaptured  and  punished  by  being 
made  to  run  the  gauntlet  several  times  while  being 
soundly  beaten  with  rods.  Lewis  and  Clark,  in 
keeping  with  the  ideas  of  their  time,  believed  in 
severe  penalties.  Their  journals  record  one  other 
instance  of  insubordination  —  in  which  the  culprit 
received  seventy-five  lashes  on  his  bare  back.  Per- 
haps it  is  not  suiprising  that  there  were  so  few 
incidents  of  the  sort  to  set  down. 

Sometimes  Lewis  recorded  the  day's  events; 
sometimes  Clark  was  the  diarist.    Not  only  by  the' 
orthography  (Clark  spelled  as  he  listed  and  capital- 
ized adjectives  or  prepositions  as  the  humor  seized 
him)  is  it  easy  to  trace  each  author.    Lewis  pic- 
tures Nature's  handiwork  with  a  touch  of  romance 
as  well  as  with  a  carefulness  of  detail  which  shows 
that  the  instruction  he  received  from  the  "distin- 
guished professors"  in  Philadelphia  has  not  been 
wasted.    Clark's  entries  reveal  the  keen  observa- 
tion of  the  frontiersmen.    His  accuracy  is  a  na- 
tural gift,  trained  solely  by  woodsman's  experience 
and  for  practical  purposes.    A  gorgeous  sky  does 
not  leave  him  cold,  but  his  first  thought  about 
it  is  concerned  wiUi  its  prophecy  of  weather.    As 
for  instance  when  he  notes  that  "at  Sunset  the 
atmespier  presented  every  appearance  of  wind. 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  49 

Blue  &  White  Streeks  centiring  at  the  Sun  as  She 
disappeared  and  the  Clouds  Situated  to  the  S. 
W.  Guilded  in  the  most  butifull  manner."    The 
"appearance  of  wind"  was  a  matter  of  veiy  prac- 
tical import  to  the  expedition  which  was  being 
pushed  up  the  stream  by  sail  as  well  as  by  oars.    It 
had  its  bearing  on  the  safety  of  the  night  camp, 
and  on  the  chances  of  the  hunt.    Generally  in  the 
same  spirit,  Clark  notes  rapids  and  bluffs  and  the 
outlines  of  hanks  and  the  quality  of  soils.    A  bad 
stretch  of  portage  compels  him  to  cast  an  apprais- 
ing eye  over  the  river  falls  which  cause  his  discom- 
fort.   He  is  interested,  too,  in  setting  down  the 
personal  incidente  and  gossip  of  each  day.    So 
that  in  reading  his  entries  we  get  illuminating  side- 
hghts  on  the  characters  and  dispositions  of  the 
men  as  well  as  of  their  leaders.    Clark's  narrative, 
realistic  and  "human,"  runs  side  by  side  with 
Lewis's  —  with  its  scientific  data,  its  flashes  of  wit, 
and  its  romantic  enthusiasms  —  and  supplements 
it  in  a  way  that  makes  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Jour- 
nals  a  unique  literary  work  and  a  perfect  example 
of  collaboration. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  Clark  records  the  only 
death  which  took  place  on  the  journey.  Charles 
Floyd  "Died  with  a  great  deel  of  composure.  .  .  . 


I 

I  Ik  I 


W 


\  ■ 


1  j  M 


Hv 


't  :\ 


H 'Vlfk 


h 


M  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

a  butifuU  evening."  Today  a  taU  obelisk  on 
Floyd's  Bluff.  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  marks  the  grave 
of  the  first  American  who  fell  in  that  country  in 
the  cause  of  civilization. 

As  they  neared  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Sioux 
River,  the  explorers  heard  from  Dorion,  the  inter- 
preter, an  interesting  story.  Near  the  source  of 
that  river,  he  said,  there  was  a  creek  which  flowed 

in  from  the  east  between  high  r-liffs  of  red  rock.    Of 
this  red  stone  the  Indians  made  their  pipes.    And, 
since  pipes  were  a  supreme  necessity  in  both  their 
domestic  and  political  life,  they  had  established  a 
law  under  which  that  region  was  held  sacted  to 
peace.    Tribes  at  war  with  each  other  met  there 
to  mine  the  brilliant  stone,  without  the  least  show 
of  hostility,  and  there  an  Indian  fleeing  from  his 
foes  might  find  sure  refuge.    Among  these  jagged 
red  cliffs  the  fugitive  ^as  as  one  "between  the 
horns  of  the  altar." 

On  the  twenty-third.  Fields,  one  of  the  party 
had  tiie  honor  of  killing  thew  first  buffalo;  and  a 
week  or  so  later,  Lewis  shot  an  antelope  and  intA>- 
duced  the  prairie  dog  to  science.  The  journal  here 
has  a  long  account  of  Uie  Dakota  Sious,  witii  whom 
Lewis  and  Clark  held  councils.  One  of  these  coun- 
cils threatened  to  turn  out  badly,    dark  went 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  u 

on  shore  "with  a  view  of  reconsiling  those  men 
to  us."    The  Indians  seized  a  pirogue  and  were 
"very  insolent  both  in  words  and  justures"  so 
that  Clark  drew  his  sword  and  made  a  signal  to 
the  boat  to  prepare  for  action.    The  Indians  who 
surrounded  him  drew  their  arrows  from  their  quiv- 
ers and  were  bending  their  bows,  when  the  swivel 
in  the  boat  was  instantly  pointed  toward  them, 
and  "those  with  me  also  Showed  a  Disposition 
to  Defend  themselves  and  me.    I  felt  My  Self 
warm  &  Spoke  in  very  positive  terms."   The  Sioux 
chief,  impressed  by  this  resolute  front,  ordered  the 
warriors  to  draw  back.    Clark  continues,  "after 
remaining  in  this  Situation  Sometime  I  offered  my 
hand  to  the  1.  &  2.  Chiefs  who  refused  to  receive 
it."    Presently  the  chiefs  changed  their  minds, 
however,  as  Clark  turned  away  towards  the  boats. 
They  waded  in  after  him  and  he  invited  them  on 
board.    So,  through  a  frank  show  of  both  warlike 
courage  and  good-will  a  peril  was  passed.    The  con- 
clusion of  Clark's  story  of  the  event  discloses  that 
strain  of  buoyancy  in  both  leaders  which  must  have 
been  one  of  the  strongest  bonds  of  their  friendship. 
After  proceeding  about  a  mile  they  anchored  off  a 

little  islandovergrown  with  willows  which  theycalled 
"bad  humered  Island  as  we  were  in  a  bad  humer." 


-1  *^.  , 


•.   i 


I 


4«  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

They  had  now  been  for  some  weeks  in  the 
b.g  game  country.    Deer,  buffalo,  elk,  antelopes, 
wolves,  and  bears  were  seen  frequently  in  herds 
and  packs.    On  the  19th  of  October  they  saw  fifty- 
two  herds  of  buffalo  and  three  herds  of  elk     Two 
days  later  they  passed  the  Heart  River  a  little 
below  the  spot  where  a  railway  bridge  now  joins 
the  towns  of  Bismarck  and  Mandan.    Advance 
gusts  from  oncoming  winter  assailed  the  explorers 
as  they  hastened  on.  passing  nine  ruined  villages 
of  the  Mandans  in  Whose  chief  towns  they  intended 
to  make  their  winter  camp.  They  reached  their  des- 
tmation  on  the  twenty-sixth;  and  in  the  first  week 
of  the  following  month  they  began  the  building  of 
their  fort,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Missouri,  about 
twenty  miles  beyond  the  present  town  of  Wash- 
bum.  North  Dakota.    They  had  traveled  some 
sateen  hundred  miles  from  their  starting  point 

A  relict  of  the  Mandan  tribe  lives  today  on  the 
Fort  Berthold  reservation,  but  there  are  very  few 
full-bloods  among  them.  In  1804  the  Mandans 
numbered  over  twelve  hundred.  They  were  suf- 
ficiently unlike  the  other  plains  tribes  to  cause 
much  romantic  speculation  as  to  their  origin.  They 
were  fairer  skinned;  and  light  hair  was  not  uncom- 
mon among  them.    They  wore  their  hair  very  long. 


h' 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  47 

sometimes  trailing  to  their  heels.    They  lived  in 
earthen  houses,  well  built,  circular  in  shape  with 
slightly  domed  roofs.     They  were  cultivators  of 
the  soil,  with  no  lust  for  warfare;  and  consequenUy 
ttey  were  despised  and  raided  by  the  ferocious 
Sioux.    It  was  their  boast,  then  and  afterwards, 
that  they  had  never  shed  the  blood  of  a  white 
man.     Lewis  and  Clark  were  not  the  first  white 
men  they  had  entertained.   The  Canadian  explorer 
La  V6rendrye  spent  a  part  of  December,  1738 
with  them.     They  were  familiar  with  the  traders 
of  the  North-West  Company  and  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.    Some  of  these  traders,  indeed, 
came  to  the  M andan  villages  while  Lewis  and  Clark 
were  wintering  there. 

Buffalo  hunts  were  among  the  diversions  and 
duties  of  the  winter  months.  Lewis  had  ample 
time  to  study  tho  Mandans  and  to  inscribe  their 
legends  and  history  as  well  as  to  collect  and  prepare 
specimens  of  various  sorts  to  send  to  President 
Jefferson  in  the  spring.  To  give  a  practical  proof 
of  the  American  Government's  friendship  for  its 
Mandan  children,  Clark  offered  to  go  out  with  a 
number  of  the  men  of  the  expedition  and  a  party  of 
Indians  to  pursue  and  punish  a  band  of  Sioux  who 
had  attacked  some  Mandans.    The  Indians  were 


i  iH- 


I 


48  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

greatly  pleased  at  this  compliment;  but,  as  the  snow 
was  thick  and  the  going  bad,  they  preferred  to  take 
the  will  for  the  deed.  In  February  the  exploring 
party  was  augmented  by  one  papoose,  a  boy,  his 
mother  being  Sacajawea,  the  young  Indian  wife  of 
Toussaint  Charboneau  the  guide. 

On  April  7,  1805,  the  explorers  left  Fort  Man- 
dan  and  pushed  on  up  the  Missouri  in  canoes  and 
pirogues.  The  more  imposing  bateau  was  now 
headed  down  stream,  manned  by  thirteen  men  who 
vowed  to  bring  it  safely  to  St.  Louis.  Its  pre- 
cious contents  included,  besides  specimens,  skins, 
Indian  articles,  buffalo  robes,  and  other  trophies 
for  Jefferson,  a  report  from  Lewis  and  a  copy  of 
Clark's  diary.  The  spirit  which  animated  not  only 
the  leaders  but  the  rank  and  file  is  attested  to  by 
Lewis  in  his  letter  to  the  President.  Of  the  men 
who  were  to  guide  the  bateau,  Lewis  wrote:  "I 
have  but  little  doubt  but  they  will  be  fired  on  by 
the  Sioux;  but  they  have  pledged  themselves  to 
us  that  they  will  not  yeald  while  there  is  a  man 
of  them  living." 

Lewis  and  Clark's  party  now  numbered  thirty- 
two  persons.  Following  the  list  of  their  names  we 
read  that  Charboneau  and  his  wife,  with  her  in- 
fant, accompanied  the  expedition  as  "Interpreter 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  4* 

and  interpretress."    Sacajawea  was  a  Shoshone 
who  had  been  captured  when  a  child  by  Minne- 
tarees  and  by  them  sold  as  a  slave  to  Charboneau 
The  old  tt^ageur  brought  her  up  and  afterwards 
married  her.    From  now  on  we  are  to  find  the 
young  Indian  woman.  Sacajawea.  gradually  taking 
a  prominent  part  in  the  councils  of  the  expedition. 
On  the  26th  of  April  the  explows  passed  the 
mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  River  and  gave  it  its 
Englbh  name,  translated  from  the  French  rocht- 
jaune.    Three  days  later  Lewis  had  a  Uvely  en- 
counter with  two  "brown  or  yellow  bears"  of  a 
sort  new  to  him.    One  of  these  animals,  wounded 
by  Lewis,  pursued  him  for  "seventy  or  eighty 
yards"  but  only  to  its  own  death,  for  Lewis  man- 
aged to  reload  and  kill  it -and  so  made  the 
scientific  discovery  of  the  grizzly  bear.    From  now 
on  "yellow"  bears,  "white"  bears,  and  "brown" 
bears,  all  variously  tinted  grizzlies,  appeared  with 
disturbing  frequency,  and  whenever  they  caught 
sight  of  an  explorer  they  gave  chase.    One  brown- 
furred  guardian  of  the  wild,  with  seven  bullets  in 
him,  forced  the  intruding  hunters  to  throw  down 
their  guns  and  pouches  and  leap  twenty  feet  into 
the  river;  he  plunged  in  after  his  foes  and  had  all 
but  snapped  upon  the  hindmost  when  a  shot  from 

4 


m 


!l'i 


m 


m 


30  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGOX 

the  shore  put  the  eighth  ball  in  him  and  ended  the 
chase.  This  happened  on  the  14th  of  May.  It 
was  surely  a  day  of  tests  for  the  explorers.  While 
the  hunters  were  fleeing  from  Bruin,  a  squall  struck 
a  canoe  under  sail  and  upset  it,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Charboneau,  who  completely  lost  his  head : 
"  Charbono  cannot  swim  and  is  perhaps  the  most 
timid  waterman  in  the  world."  Fortunately  the 
little  vessel,  which  contained  "our  papers,  instru- 
ments, books,  medicine  .  .  .  and  in  short  al- 
most every  article  indispensibly  necessaiy  to  fur- 
ther the  views,  or  insure  the  success  of  the  enter- 
prize  in  which  we  are  now  launched  to  the  distance 
of  8200  miles  "  was  not  completely  overturned.  But 
the  lighter  articles  were  washed  overboard  and 
were  saved  only  by  the  cool  courage  and  nimble 
fingers  of  Charboneau's  wife,  the  Bird-Woman, 
who  snatched  back  most  of  them  from  the  hungry 
stream.  In  this  merry  fashion  did  the  explorers 
celebrate  the  anniversary  of  their  setting  out  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Wood  River. 

The  Missouri  now  wound  about  the  base  of  tall 
cliffs  of  white  sandstone  sculptured  by  wind  and 
water  into  grotesque  shapes.  Perhaps  it  was  this 
remarkable  environment  that  stirred  the  practi- 
cal Clark  into  a  romantic  mood  and  led  him  to 


LEWIS  AND  CLABK  n 

christen  a  stream  they  passed  presently,  "Judith's 
River."  in  honor  of  the  lady  of  his  heart  whom  he 
afterwards  married.    Clark  was  one  of  those  to 
whom  a  rose  by  any  other  name  would  smell  as 
sweet;  the  lady's  name  was,  in  fact,  Julia  Haneocit, 
not  Judith.    Nevertheless  the  Judith  River  sUll 
marks  the  map  of  Montana  m  her  memory.    A 
little  later  Lewis  also  complimented  a  lady,  his 
cousin  Mario  Wood,  though  the  turbulent  waters 
of  Maria's  River  (now  written  Marias)  "but  illy 
comport  with  the  pure  celestial  virtues  and  amiable 
qualifications  of  that  lovely  fair  one." 

At  Maria's  River,  on  the  2d  of  June,  they  came 
to  a  halt,  for  they  did  not  know  which  of  the  two 
streams  was  the  Missouri.    Here  the  party  divided. 
Lewis  with  six  men  set  off  to  investigate  Mjiria's 
River,  and  Clark  proceeded  up  the  south  fork 
the  Missouri.    Both  leaders  had  serious  encounter^ 
with  grizzly  bears,  besides  other  difliculties,  before 
they  returned  to  the  forks;  but  they  returned  of  one 
mmd,  convinced  that  the  south  fork  was  the  Mis- 
souri.   What  manner  of  leaders  they  were  is  re- 
vealed in  the  fact  that  their  party  willinglv  turned 
up  the  south  fork  with  them,  although  all  the 
men  were  also  of  one  mind,  but  in  the  opposite 
conviction. 


m 


IV 


M  ADVBNTUBBRS  OF  OREGON 

Leaving  Clark  in  charge  of  the  boats,  Lewia 
proceeded  up  the  river  on  foot,  until  he  heard  a 
diatant  ruih  of  waters  and  saw  spray  rise  above  the 
plain  like  a  column  of  smoke  and  immediately 
vanish.  The  noise,  increasing  as  he  approached, 
aoon  "began  to  make  a  roaring  too  tremendious  for 
any  cause  short  of  the  great  falls  of  the  Missouri." 
Then  the  Falls  came  into  view.  Lewis  hurried 
down  the  banks  of  the  river,  which  were  two 
hundred  feet  high  and  "difficult  of  access,"  and  sat 
on  a  rock  below  the  center  of  the  Falls  to  enjoy 
"this  truly  magnificent  and  sublimely  grand  ob- 
ject, which  has  from  the  commencement  of  time 
been  concealed  from  the  view  of  civilized  man." 
The  Great  Falls  were  more  than  a  sublime  spec- 
tacle to  Lewis  and  Clark;  they  were  proof  positive 
that  the  explorers  were  on  the  true  Missouri,  head- 
ing towards  the  passes  that  led  into  the  region  of 
the  Columbia  River. 

While  waiting  for  the  boats,  Lewis  explored  the 
surrounding  country,  and  he  crowded  a  great  deal 
of  excitement  into  the  few  days.  He  shot  a  buffalo 
and  was  waiting  to  see  it  drop  when  he  discovered 
a  brown  bear  within  twenty  steps  of  him.  He  had 
forgotten  to  reload,  so  that  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  flight.    The  bear,  open-mouthed,  pursued  him. 


m 


'  i.'i 


M\ 


ii 


.VnVENTTJRKR^  OK  ()RFX;0\ 


II 


I. 


Ckrk 


in   rh:ir£;i-  o 


'•  tl„ 


i.'ats,  I/fwis 


proctffdfil  up  the  river  o;'  f<."^l  iitiLii  iw  ju-arti  a 
tiii'tant  rush  of  watfis  aim  saw  spray  riM-  abuvc  tljc 
uiam  lilu'  a  coiunui  of  snioko  and  iuiuiediuttjly 
vanish.  'Hif  i\o\m-,  iiiTeaiMig  a>  lie  jpproached, 
3(11(11  "U'gan  lo  mako  a  roarinj!  loo  trciiiendlouj  for 
any  cause  short  of  th>'  gr.at  falls  of  tiiv  Mi^.-nuri." 
Thvn  lb',-  Falls  came  into  view.     Levis  flurried 

]»■'■(,  whii-h  has  from  tiic  ■.■•.•',i;iiif>i<-eiiio!it  ot  tiiiir 
bi'<-n  avii(r:did  fi-om  tiii-  ■!,.«■  ;,,  ,vili.'.crj  man." 
The  1  ires'  l'ait»  were  inor*  tliiiji  :!  ^ulilirat  spec- 
tarle  ij  l/<  \vi,.i  iu'il  ('lark:  th-y  w.  •^>'  fi^rjyt  po.'>ifivf 
that  ihc  cxpiori-rs  were  on  'he  true  Missouri,  h.ad- 
ing  toward.s  tht  passes  that  led  into  the  region  ot 
t!ie  Cuiunibi.i  River. 

While  waitiii;,'  for  the  l;oai?,  l,ew!>  explored  the 
surrounding;  eountrv,  and  he  erow  i-d  a  ^'rcat  iK-al 
of  exeiteiueat  into  the  few  liays.  fie  J,.,!  a  IirtT.ilo 
and  was  waitinji;  to  see  it  drop  wteii  hv  <!iseov(red 
a  brown  boar  within  twenty  ^i-.-ps  of  liiui.  fie  had 
forpotfen  to  reload,  .so  that  liiore  wa.-.  n^thinj  for  it 
Hut  tii{;ht.     The  bear,  oytfv  mouthed,  pur.>ued  him, 


•ff.M 


LEWIS  AND  CLABK  53 

gaining  fast.     The  plain  was  bare  of  trees  or  brush. 
Lewis  decided  that  his  only  chance  was  to  plunge 
into  the  river  and  force  the  bear  to  attack  under 
the  handicap  of  swimming.     His  ruse  was  success- 
ful.   But  a  little  later,  as  he  continued  his  explo- 
rations, three  buflfalo  bulls  ran  at  him.    Lewis 
writes:   "I  thought  at  least  to  give  them  some 
amusement  and  altered  my  direction  to  meet  them; 
when  they  arrived  within  a  hundred  yards  they 
made  a  halt,  took  a  good  view  of  me  and  retreat- 
ed with  precipiUtion."    He  now  pushed  rapidly 
through  the  dark  towards  camp  to  escape  from  a 
place  which  "from  the  succession  of  curious  ad- 
ventures" seemed  to  him  an  enchanted  region. 
"Sometimes  for  a  moment  I  thought  it  might  be 
a  dream,  but  the  prickley  pears  which  pierced  my 
feet  very  severely  once  in  a  while  .  .  .  convinced 
me  that  I  was  really  awake."    He  made  his  bed  that 
night  under  a  tree  and  awoke  in  the  morning  to  find  a 
large  rattlesnake  coiled  on  the  trunk  just  above  him. 
Clark,  with  the  boats,  was  meeting  dangers  of 
another  sort.     "  We  set  out  at  the  usual  time  and 
proceeded  on  with  great  difficulty  .  .  .  the  current 
excessively  rapid  and  difficult  to  assend  great  num- 
bers of  dangerous  places,  and  the  fatigue  which  we 
have  to  encounter  is  incretiatable  the  men  in  the 


I  Si, 


]i!,! 


'ii\ 


:5 


U 


M  ' 

I  i' 


44  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

water  from  morning  until  night  hauling  the  cord  & 
boats  walking  on  sharp  rocks  and  round  slippery 
stones  which  alternately  cut  their  feet  &  throw 
them  down,  notwith  standing  all  this  dificuelty 
they  go  with  great  chearfulness,  aded  to  those 
dificuelties  the  rattlesnakes  inumerable  &  require 
great  caution  to  prevent  being  bitten . "  Of  the  five 
falls  on  the  Missouri  two  received  from  Lewis  and 
Clark  the  names  they  still  bear  —  Great  Falls  and 
Crooked  Falls. 

At  this  point,  of  course,  navigation  became  im- 
possible. To  reach  free  water  again  it  was  n«'ces- 
sary  to  make  a  portage  of  about  seventeen  miles. 
The  men  shaped  wheels  from  the  one  lone  (»t- 
tonwood  tree  on  the  bank  and  made  axles  and 
tongues  of  willow  and  other  light  woods  within 
reach.  With  these  they  moved  the  laden  canoes 
across  the  rough  surface  of  the  plain  which  was 
dented  deep  by  the  hoofs  of  the  buflFalo.  The 
hard  dried  edges  of  the  dents  tortured  the  men's 
moccasined  feet  and  made  hauling  difficult  and 
slow.  The  tongues  and  axles  broke  repeatedly  and 
had  to  be  renewed.  But  the  men  were  helped 
sometimes  by  high  winds,  which  blew  the  canoes 
under  sail  at  a  good  pace  over  the  earth.  They 
had  stumbled  across  rough  country  for  thirteen 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  „ 

''^'Tu*l"V''"'"'^"^'«='''^»I'e  launching  point 
above  the  Falls.     Then,  while  Cruzatte,  the  E 

'^'^:'':'  -«P-d  tis  fiddle,  all  who  could  »2e 
useoftheirfeethadad«.ceonthegreen 

On  the  29th  of  June.  Clark.  Charboneau.  and  the 
B.rd-Won.an  and  her  baby  almost  lost  their  li^e 

rTnt;  '""'  ^'"'^^--^u^efrom; 
wm  ma  narrow  ravine  when  suddenly  a  torrent 
descended  upon  them.  "The  rain  ajpea^to 
descend  m  a  body  and  instantly  collect^  ^t^: 
nvene  and  came  down  in  a  roling  torrent  w^ 
-.s.st.b,e  force  driving  rocks  mud  Ld  ever^thl^ 
before  ,twh.ch  opposed  it's  passage.  Capt  c  f^ 
tunately  d.scovered  it  a  moment  before  it  rea.  W 

st^P  bluff  shovmg  occasionally  the  Indian  woman 

^1„  h^°:r'°  ''"  '"  '^''"''  '■"  ''^  «™«=  Star 
bono  had  the  woman  by  the  hand  indeavoring  to 
Pul  her  up  the  hill  but  was  so  much  frighten^ 
that  he  remained  frequently  motionless  and  b^ 
for  Capt  C  both  himself  and  his  woman  and  chiS 
2  t  have  penshed."  The  water  rose  so  swiftly 
^a  .t  was  up  to  Clark's  waist  before  he  had  begun 

rt  arrose  tdl  .t  had  obtained  the  debth  of  15  feet 


m 


..  i 


'^■^m 


56  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

with  a,  current  tremendious  to  behold.  One  mo- 
ment longer  &  it  would  have  swept  them  into  the 
river  just  above  the  cataract  of  87  feet  where  they 
must  have  inevit.i^bly  perished."  In  this  adven- 
ture Clark  lost  his  compaae,  Charboneau  dropped 
his  gun,  shot  pouch,  and  powder-horn,  and  the 
Bird-Woman  hud  barely  time  to  grasp  her  baby 
bdore  the  net  ia  which  it  lay  at  her  feet  was  swept 
away.  Some  of  the  men  had  been  out  on  the  plain 
whee  the  storm  broke  and  the  heavy  hail,  driven 
upon  them  by  the  violent  wind,  had  felM  several 
of  them  so  that  they  were  "bleeding  freely  and 
complained  of  being  much  bruised." 

The  explorers  had  been  for  some  time,  ot  course, 
in  sight  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and,  while  not 
unimpressed  by  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the 
great  range,  they  were  doubtless  thinking  more  of 
the  passes  among  the  peaks  which  they  must  find 
and  penetrate.  On  the  13th  of  July,  they  lotk 
stream  again  at  a  point  about  three  miles  above 
the  present  city  of  Great  Falls,  Montana;  and  on 
the  twenty-fifth  they  reached  Three  Forks,  the  con- 
fluence of  the  three  rivers  which  unite  their  waters 
to  form  the  Missouri.  These  rivers  were  named 
by  Lewk  and  Clark  the  Madison,  the  Jefferson,  and 
the  Gallatin. 


M\ 


!! 


S*  THE  OREGON  CODNTrar 

AND  ITS  APPROACKLa       , 
1774  - 1859 
te1»  I  A6oaooo 

.    »»»■■<■  i«  miu* 


Thej 

Shosho 

Sacajai 

bad  bee 

of  her 

wickiup 

tenante 

among  I 

Sacaj; 

ing  wist 

and  exti 

underst( 

alrea-iy 

Indian  < 

indiffere: 

her  lord 

her  a  bli 

repremai 

At  len 

canyons  < 

ent  town 

with  a  CO 

on  eastw 

Missouri. 

them  first 

to  remain 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  i7 

They  were  now  in  the  country  of  the  Snake.,  or 
Shoshone,,  the  Bird-WomM,',  people.  Near  by 
Sacajawe.  pointed  out  the  ve,y  .pot  where  .he 
h«I  beer  captured.  Eagerly  .he  watched  for  ,ig„. 
Of  her  tribe,  minutely  examining  dcwrted  bru.h 
widcup,  to  di«*m  how  recenUy  they  had  been 
tenanted,  .training  her  eye.  for  .moke  .ignal. 
among  the  blue  mist,  on  the  mountain.. 

Sacajawea.  Marching  the  .unlit  horizon  or  look- 
•ng  wutfully  out  into  the  dui*  a.  it  drifted  down 
and  extmgm.hed  her  hope  of  that  day.  wa.  httle 
understood  by  the  two  bu,y  leader.,  who  had 
alrea  ly  noted  in  their  journal  that,  true  to  the 
Indian  character,  .he  viewed  the  old  «*ne.  with 
mdifference.  But  her  preoccupation  p«,voked 
her  lord  and  master.  «,  that  one  evening  he  dealt 
her  a  blow,  for  which  Clark  gave  him  a  "severe 
repremand." 

At  length,  after  navigating  the  shallows  and 
canyons  of  the  Jefferson  to  a  point  near  the  pres- 
ent town  of  Dillon.  Montana,  the  explor^-rs  met 
with  a  company  of  famishing  Shoshones.  pressing 
on  eastward  to  the  buffalo  grounds  along  the 
Mu«ouri.  Lewis,  exploring  by  land,  had  found 
them  first  and  with  difficulty  had  persuaded  them 
to  remam  to  greet  the  boat  party.    These  Indians 


MiaiOCOrY   HESOIUTION   TBT  CHADT 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No,  2) 


■  32 


m 

12.0 


l^i^iu^ 


_^  APPLIED  IM/IGE     Ine 

^^  165 J   Eatt   Mam  Street 

B^S  Rocneiter,   N«i>   Vork         U609        USA 

^S  (7)6)   *82  -  0300  -  Phone 

^S  (716)   288-  5989  ~  Fa> 


88 


ADVENTURJEBS  OP  OREGON 


were  so  often  the  prey  of  the  fierce  Blackfeet  that 
they  were  intensely  nervous  and  suspicious.  The 
appearance  of  the  boats  reassured  them,  and  so 
great  was  the  relief  of  their  frightened  chief  that 
he  fell  upon  Lewis's  neck  and  repeatedly  embraced 
him  till  he  was  "besmeared  with  their  grease"  and 
"heartily  tired  of  the  national  hug."  The  party 
disembarked.  The  eager  Bird- Woman  raced  ahead 
and  presently,  says  Clark,  "danced  for  the  joyful 
sight,"  as  she  held  out  her  arms  to  a  young  woman 
who  rushed  towards  her.  The  two  had  been  com- 
panions in  childhood  and  had  also  been  together 
in  captivity. 

The  Shoshone  chief  took  Lewis  and  Clark  to  his 
lodge.  His  warriors  quickly  marked  a  small  circle 
in  the  sod,  in  the  center  of  the  tent,  by  tearing  up 
the  bunch  grass;  and  here  Indians  and  white  men 
seated  themselves  on  green  boughs  covered  with 
antelope  skins.  Then  the  sacred  pipe  was  brought. 
Clark  was  enough  impressed  with  this  pipe  to  make 
a  drawing  of  it;  and,  from  his  picture  and  written 
description,  we  can  see  its  long  stem  and  its  large 
bowl  of  green  stone,  polished  like  crystal  and 
gleaming  like  jade,  as  the  chief  slowly  gestured 
with  it  to  the  four  points  of  the  compass.  But 
though  the  white  men  knew  that  the  chief  meant 


U 
si 
fo 

CO 

th 
th 

ho 
flu 
kn 
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LEWIS  AND  CLARK  59 

them  well  because  he  had  taken  oflE  his  mocca- 
sins  -  as  one  who  said,  "May  I  forever  go  bare- 
foot if  I  deal  not  truly  with  you" -yet  they 
could  not  make  their  needs  known  to  him.     And 
those  needs  were  great.     For  here,  at  the  foot  of 
the  high  Mountains  of  Bright  Stones,  aU  their 
hopes  would  end  unless  this  chief  could  be  in- 
fluenced to  guide  them  through  the  pass.     They 
knew  that  it  would  not  be  easy  to  persuade  him  to 
part  with  horses  enough  for  their  party  and  bag- 
gage; and,  as  they  regarded  his  "fierce  eyes  and  lank 
jaws  grown  meagre  from  the  want  of  food,"  they 
doubted  if  anything  they  could  offer  would  induce 
him  and  his  starving  tribe  to  turn  back  from  their 
hunting  trip.     So  Sacajawea  was  sent  for.  not  only 
to  mterpret  but  to  plead,  as  a  Shoshone,  with  her 
kin  to  open  the  sealed  door  in  that  great  stone 
barrier  that  the  white  men  might  go  on  to  the  wide 
waters  of  the  River  of  the  West. 

It  was  surely  a  dramatic  moment  for  the  Bird- 
Woman  when  she  slipped  into  the  formal  council 
circle,  with  head  bent  and  eyes  downcast  as  became 
a  woman  among  chiefs.  But  a  keener  experience 
was  in  store  for  her.  As  the  chief  began  to  speak, 
tellmg  the  white  men  that  not  by  his  war  name  but 
by  his  peace  name,  Cameahwait,  or  Come  and 


60  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Smoke,  would  he  be  knoivn  to  them,  the  Bird- 
Woman  recognized  her  brother.  She  sprang  up 
with  a  cry,  ran  to  him,  and  threw  her  blauket  about 
him,  weeping.  The  chief  also  was  deeply  moved 
by  this  strange  meeting,  and  for  a  brief  moment 
the  white  men  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  universal 
human  heart  beating  behind  the  racial  barrier. 
"  The  meeting  of  those  people  was  really  aflfect:  ig," 
Lewis  writes.  Lewis  and  Clark  could  only  guess  at 
the  meaning  of  Sacajawea's  long  earnest  speech  to 
her  brother,  but  they  could  heartily  rejoice  at  its 
results,  for  the  chief  agreed  to  fulfill  all  their  desires. 
The  explorers  had  now  to  adapt  their  outfit  to 
overland  travel;  so  they  set  about  making  pack- 
saddles.  For  nails  they  used  rawhide  thongs ;  and, 
for  boards,  oar  handles  and  the  planks  of  some  of 
their  boxes  encasea  in  rawhide.  While  the  crew, 
assisted  by  the  Indian  men,  were  at  this  task,  the 
Lidian  women  were  busy  mending  the  white  men's 
moccasins.  Though  the  chief  had  promised  that 
the  Shoshones  would  help  transport  the  baggage 
and  see  the  party  safely  over  the  mountains,  yet 
on  the  day  before  the  departure  he  secretly  pre- 
pared to  go  down  the  Missouri  to  the  buffalo 
grounds.  Taxed  with  his  double-dealing,  he  ad- 
mitted it  to  Lewis  regretfully,  explaining  that  the 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  61 

tribe's  food  supply  had  come  to  an  end  and  that, 
seeing  his  people  in  want,  he  had  forgotten  his 
promise  to  the  white  men,  which,  however,  he 
would  now  fulfill  at  all  costs.  In  this  incident  we 
get  a  pure  white  flash  of  the  young  Bird-Woman's 
character,  for,  despite  her  joy  in  the  reunion  with 
her  kin,  her  loyalty  to  Lewis  and  Clark  moved  her 
to  betray  to  them  the  change  in  her  brother's  plans 
which  so  menaced  the  success  of  the  expedition. 

Moved  by  these  experiences  among  the  Sho- 
shones,  Lewis,  in  one  of  his  most  thoughtful  moods, 
thus  records  his  birthday,  the  18th  of  August: 


This  day  I  completed  my  thirty-first  year,  and  con- 
ceived that  I  had  in  all  human  probability  now  existed 
about  half  the  period  which  I  am  to  remaip  .  .  I  had 
as  yet  done  but  little  .  . .  to  further  the  h.  ,..nessof  the 
human  race,  or  to  advance  the  information  of  the  suc- 
ceeding generation.  I  viewed  with  regret  the  many 
hours  I  have  spent  in  indolence  and  now  soarly  feel 
the  want  of  that  information  which  those  hours  would 
have  given  me  had  they  been  judiciously  expended. 
But  since  they  are  past  and  cannot  be  recalled,  I  dash 
from  me  the  gloomy  thought,  and  resolved,  in  future,  to 
redouble  my  exertions  and  at  least  indeavour  to  pro- 
mote those  two  primary  objects  of  human  existence, 
by  giving  them  the  aid  of  that  portion  of  talents  which 
nature  and  fortune  have  bestoed  on  me;  or  in  future, 
to  I        T  mankind,  as  I  have  heretofore  lived/or  myself. 


es  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

The  party  crossed  the  backbone  of  the  Rockies 
through  the  Lemhi  Pass  and  entered  a  wild  country 
of  deep  gorges,  mad  streams,  and  thickly  wooded 
mountain  flanks.  Here  Sacajawea's  kinsmen  took 
leave  of  the  white  men  and  returned  to  the  eastern 
side  of  the  range  —  all  but  one  old  Shoshone  who 
consented  to  remain  and  guide  the  expedition,  for 
the  explorers  had  still  to  encounter  grave  perils  be- 
fore the  navigable  waters  of  the  Columbia  River 
would  ease  their  travel.  Clark  spent  a  week  in 
fruitless  explorations  of  the  branches  of  the  Lemhi 
and  the  Salmon  in  Idaho.  There  was  no  clear  river 
highway  here.  The  expedition  then  pushed  north- 
west through  the  hills  andr  vaering  east,  passed  the 
Continental  Divide  into  Montana  again.  Here 
Lewis  and  Clark  had  friendly  eurounters  with  Nez 
Perces  end  Flathead  or  Salish  Indians.  On  the 
7th  of  September  they  camped  south  of  the  present 
Grantsdale,  Montana.  They  pressed  on  north- 
ward to  Lo  Lo  Creek,  named  by  them  Travelers 
Rest,  and  crossed  again  into  Idaho  through  the 
Lo  Lo  Pass.  Heading  towards  the  Clearwater,  the 
Shoshone  guide  sometimes  mistook  the  trail  and  it 
seems  that  the  expedition  floundered  about.  The 
men  suffered  from  hunger,  from  cold  and  fatigue. 
They  were  obliged  to  kill  a  horse  occasionally  for 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  03 

food.     Sometimes  the  main  party  halted,  while 
Clark  with  some  of  the  hunters  went  out  searching 
for  a  way  out  of  the  maze  of  foaming  streams  and 
snow-crowned  precipices.   But  by  the  twenty-sixth 
all  were  safely  camped  on  the  Clearwater.     Both 
leaders   and   men  were  very  ill  from  the  priva- 
tions they  had  undergone;  nevertheless  they  began 
building  canoes  at  once.     On  the  7th  of  October 
they  were  headed  down  the  river  and  three  days 
later  they  camped  near  its  mouth.     Then,  launch- 
ing their  canoes  on  the  Snake,  they  came  on  the 
sixteenth  to  the  mouth  of  that  river  which  pours 
its  waters  into  the  Columbia  itself.    Here  Indians, 
as  though  to  celebrate  the  great  event  —  the  signifi- 
cance of  which  they  could  not  have  grasped  had 
it  been  told  to  them  —  collected  in  numbers  to 
receive  the  white  men.     "A  Chief  came  from  this 
camp  which  was  about  J^  of  a  mile  up  the  Colum- 
bia river  at  the  head  of  about  200  men  singing  and 
beeting  on  their  drums  Stick  and  keeping  time  to 
the  musik,  they  formed  a  half  circle  arouna  us  and 
Sung  for  Some  time." 

On  the  18th  of  October  Lewis  and  Clark  floated 
out  upon  the  River  of  the  West.  They  portaged 
the  Celilo  Falls  on  the  twenty-tliird  and  took 
stream  again  in  that  stretch  of  the  river  known  as 


«4  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

the  Dalles  where  the  water  runs  over  lava  beds 
and  between  grotesquely  carved  lava  cliffs.     The 
navigators  presently  saw  ahead  of  them  a  tremen- 
dous rock  stretching  across  the  river  leaving  a  chan- 
nel "between  two  rocks  not  exceeding /oriy  Jjre 
yards  wide"  through  which  the  whole  body  of  the 
Columbia  must  press  its  way.    A  portage  here 
was   considered   by  Clark  "impossible  with  our 
Strength";    he   therefore    "deturmined   to  pass 
through  this  place  notwithsUnding  the  horrid  ap- 
pearance of  this  agitated  gut  swelling,  boiling  & 
whorling  in  ev—  direction,  which  from  the  top  of 
the  rock  did  not  appear  as  bad  as  when  I  was  in  it; 
however  we  passed  Safe."    Two  days  later  they 
passed  the  Long  Narrows,  where  their  canoes  were 
nearly  swamped  by  the  boiling  tide,  and  camped  on 
Quinett  Creek  near  the  present  city  of  The  Dalles. 
Then  one  more  bad  stretch  of  water,  the  Cascades, 
must  be  portaged  before  the  ease  of  coi  inuous 
unobstructed  navigation  was  theirs.    On  the  7th  of 
November,  according  to  Clark,  there  was  "Great 
joy  in  camp,  we  are  in  view  of  the  Ocian,  . 
this  great  Pacific  Octean  which  we  have  been  so 
long  anxious  to  See,  and  the  roreing  or  noise  made 
by  the  waves  brakeing  on  the  rockey  shores  .  .  . 
may  be  heard  distictly." 


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LEWIS  AND  CLARK  es 

It  would  seem  that  what  they  saw,  however 
was  not  the  ocean  but  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia' 
which  IS  over  a  dozen  miles  wide  at  this  point  below 
the  site  of  the  future  Astoria.    They  now  expe- 
nenced  the  ocean  swells  which  roll  through  the 
nver  here  and  also  the  blowing  rain  and  fog  char- 
actenstic  of  the  Northwest  Coast.    Their  first 
camp  was  on  Point  Ellice.  called  by  Clark  Point 
Distress.     Here  for  several  days  they  were  not 
only  drenched  to  the  skin  but  pelted  with  stones 
which  the  rains  loosened  from  the  hillside.    In  this 
wretched  condition  they  remained,  wet  and  cold 
and  with  only  a  little  dried  fish  to  satisfy  their 
hunger.    The  men  were  scattered  on  floating  logs 
or  trymg  to  shelter  themselves  in  the  crevices  of 
the  bank     Here  also  "we  found  great  numbers 
of  flees  which  we  treated  with  the  greatest  caution 
and  distance."    The  weather  cleared  on  the  15th  of 
November  and  the  explorers  moved  round  the  point 

mtoBaker'sBay,  where  they  builtsheltersforthem- 
selves  with  the  timbers  from  the  walls  of  an  aban- 
doned  Indian  village.  Their  journey  had  occupied 
eighteen  months  and  had  covered  four  thousand 
miles.  On  the  rugged  wilderness  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Missouri  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Lewis  and 
Clark  and  their  loyal  band  had  written  America's 


66  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

greatest  epic  of  adventure.  Here  they  were  now 
at  the  mouth  of  Robert  Gray's  river;  and  pres- 
ently we  see  the  indefatigable  Clark  climbing  joy- 
ously to  the  top  of  Meares's  Cape  Disappointment. 
On  one  side  of  him  rolls  a  free  sea;  on  the  other 
stretches  a  wooded  cliff  line  which  shall  be  the 
western  shore  of  the  United  States. 

Lewis  and  Clark  wintered  among  the  Clatsop 
Indians,  south  of  the  Columbia,  a  few  miles  up  the 
Lewis  and  Clark  River,  where  Lewis  pursued  his 
ethnological  studies  and  the  others  passed  the  time 
in  hunting  and  exploring. 

On  March  23, 1806.  the  expedition  turned  home- 
wards. On  the  30th  of  June,  having  recrossed  the 
Great  Divide  through  Lo  Lo  Pass  and  reached 
Travelers  Rest  Camp,  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of 
Lo  Lo  Creek,  the  leaders  decided  on  the  dangerous 
plan  of  separating  the  party  to  make  explorations. 
On  the  1st  of  July  Lewis  wrote: 

From  this  place  I  determined  to  go  with  a  small 
party  by  the  most  direct  rout  to  the  falls  of  the  Mis- 
souri, there  to  leave  [three  men)  to  prepare  carriages 
and  geer  for  the  purpose  of  transporting  the  canoes 
and  baggage  over  the  portage,  and  myself  and  six 
volunteers  to  ascend  Maria's  river  with  a  view  to  ex- 
plore the  country  and  ascertain  whether  any  branch 
of  that  river  lies  as  far  north  as  Latd  SO.  and  again 


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LEWIS  AND  CLARK  67 

return  and  join  the  party  who  are  to  decend  the  Mis- 
souri, at  the  entrance  of  Maris's  river  ...  the  other 
part  of  the  men  are  to  procec  with  Capt  Clark  to  the 
head  of  Jefferson's  river  where  we  deposited  sundry 
articles  and  left  our  canoes,  from  hence  Sergt  Ordway 
with  a  party  of  9  men  are  to  decend  the  river  with 
the  canoes;  Capt  C  with  the  remaining  ten  including 
Charbono  and  York  will  proceed  to  the  Yellowstone 
nver  at  ifs  nearest  approach  to  the  three  forks  of  the 
Missouri,  here  he  will  build  a  canoe  and  decend  the 
Yellowstone  river  with  Cliarbono  the  indian  woman, 
his  servant  York  and  five  others  to  the  missouri  where 
should  he  arrive  first  he  will  wit  ny  arrival.  Sergt 
Piyor  with  two  other  men  are  to  proceed  with  the 
horses  V  land  to  the  Mandans  and  thence  to  the 
British  posU  on  the  Assinniboin  [Clark  says,  "the 
tradeing  Establishments  of  the  N  W  C' '"  .  .  .  to 
prevail  on  the  Sioux  to  join  us  on  the  Misso,..i. 

In  consequence  of  this  daring  plan,  which  was 
not  fully  carried  out  in  detail,  the  party  was  sepa- 
rated for  six  weeks.  Lewis  e.vplored  Maria's  Rivor 
and  found  that  it  had  no  branches  reaching  to  <he 
fiftieth  parallel.  His  excursio.  however,  was  not 
uneventful,  for  he  exchanged  shots  with  the  war- 
like Blackfeet  and  later  was  shot  accidentally  and 
painfully  wounded  by  Cruzatte,  the  fiddler,  who 
mistook  his  leader  for  deer.  The  Bird-Woman 
accompanied  Clark's  party.  It  was  she  who  re 
Ognized  signs  obliterated  to  other  eyes,  who  pointed 


68  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGO.V 

out  the  true  passes  in  the  maze  of  hills  and  ra- 
vines and  guided  the  party  safely  to  Three  Forks. 
From  Three  Forks  Clark  set  out  to  explore  the 
Yellowstone  River  to  its  mouth.  On  the  journey 
he  mapped  many  points  now  famous,  such  as  the 
Big  Horn  mountains  and  river,  the  plain  where 
Custer's  monument  now  stands,  and  the  huge  rock 
called  Porapey's  Pillar  on  which  Clark's  signature 
and  the  date  cut  in  with  his  knife  are  still  legible. 
He  lost  all  his  horses,  which  were  silently  rounded 
up  and  driven  away  by  Crow  Indians.  Descend- 
ing the  river,  lear  the  present  city  of  Glendive, 
Clark  and  his  men  were  forced  to  halt  for  an  hour 
because  the  river,  though  a  mile  wide,  was  occupied 
from  shore  to  shore  by  the  crossing  of  a  buffalo 
herd.  The  next  day  they  witnessed  the  crossing 
of  two  herds. 

One  of  Clark's  companions  was  John  Colter. 
This  man  returned  to  the  Yellowstone  River  in 
1807,  and  was,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  first  white 
explorer  of  the  mountains  of  Wyoming  between  the 
Big  Horn  Range  and  the  Idaho  border.  He  dis- 
covered the  Three  Tetons  and  Yellowstone  Lake 
and  some  part  at  least  of  Yellowstone  Park. 

By  the  14th  of  August  Lewis  and  Clark  were 
once  more  among  the  Mandans  witl,  whom  they 


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LEWIS  AND  CLARK  69 

had  spent  their  first  winter  on  the  trail.     Here 
Colter  left  them  to  return  to  the  wildeni.-s.     And 
here  they  parted  with  Sacajuwea  and  her  fimiily. 
.since  Charboneau  desired  to  remain  among  the 
Mandans.     Clark  writes:  -I  offered  to  take  his 
little  son,  a  butifuil  promising  eliild  who  is  19 
months  old  to  which  they  both  himself  &  wife 
were  willing  provided  th-  rhild  had  been  weened." 
U-wis  and  Clark  reach-d  St.  Ix>iiis  at  noon.  Sep- 
tember 83.  1806,  announcing  their  approach  by 
firing  of  cannon.     All  St.  Louis,  hearing  the  splen- 
did noise,  rushed  down  to  the  bank  tr  greet  them. 
The  welcome.  Clark  says,  was  "har     "'    On  the 
next  day  they  wrote  letters.  Clark  to  his  brother. 
Lewis  to  Jefferson;  and  DrouiUard,  one  of  the  crew, 
.sprinted  off  with  them  to  overtake  the  mounted 
postman.    The  explorers  then  sallied  forth  to  pro- 
cure new  attire,  which  they  sadly  needed.     They 
bought  cloth  and  took  it  to  a  "tayler."    On  the 
twenty-fifth  they  "payed"  visits  and  in  the  eve- 
ning were  honored  by  a  "dinner  &  Ball."    The  next 
day  Clark  jotted  down  the  last  line  of  the  great  epic : 
"A  fine  morning  we  commenced  wrighting  &c." 


In  1807  Meriwether  Lewis  was  appointed  Gov- 
ernor of  Louisiana  Territory.     Two  years  later, 


70 


ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 


while  riding  along  the  Natchez  Trace  on  his  way 
to  Washington  and  accompanied  only  by  his  ser- 
vant, a  Spaniard,  he  paused  for  the  night  at  a 
lonely  inn,  seventy-two  miles  below  Nashville  in 
Lewis  County,  Tennessee.  Here  he  was  shot. 
For  a  long  time  the  impression  prevailed  that  he 
had  taken  his  own  life  in  a  fit  of  depression.  Later 
investigations,  however,  have  led  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  was  robbed  and  murdered  by  the  half- 
caste,  Grinder,  who  kept  the  inn.  But  the  belief 
of  Lewis's  family  was  that  the  Governor  had  been 
done  away  with  by  his  Spanish  servant,  not  only 
for  the  money  on  his  person  but  for  the  sake  of 
certain  documents  which  Lewis  was  taking  to 
Washington.  Whether  Lewis  tell  a  victim  to  the 
rapacity  of  the  ill-reputed  Grinder,  or  whether  his 
death  was  but  one  more  knot  in  the  intricate  skein 
of  Spanish  intrigue,  will  now,  probably,  never  be 
known.  But,  at  least,  the  theory  of  suicide  no 
longer  beclouds  his  fame.  His  body  was  buried  be- 
side the  Trace  near  the  spot  where  death  found  him. 
In  1848,  the  State  of  Tennessee  raised  a  monu- 
ment of  marble  over  the  grave.  Even  today  the 
scene  is  a  wild  one.  Forest,  uninvaded  by  axe  or 
plow,  closes  about  the  broken  column  which  marks 
the  place  of  Meriwether  Lewis's  last  sleep  on  trail. 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  71 

William  Clark  survived  his  friend  for  thirty 
years.  His  was  a  life  crowded  with  useful  activi- 
ties. A  year  after  his  return  he  entered  the  fur 
trade.  He  was  appointed  Governor  of  Missouri 
Territory  in  1813  and  retained  the  office  until 
Missouri  was  admitted  to  statehood  in  1820. 
Later  he  became  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs 
and  held  that  post  until  his  death.  He  had  al- 
ready, on  his  western  journey,  established  among 
the  Inditns  a  reputation  for  courage,  justice,  and 
friendship.  His  influence  with  the  tribes  was  prob- 
ably greater  than  that  of  any  other  white  man 
since  Sir  William  Johnson  of  colonial  days.  The 
name  of  "Red  Head"  was  loved  and  revered  in 
every  lodge  and  wickiup  from  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Pacific.  As  Governor  and  as  Superintendent  of  In- 
dian Affairs,  his  executive  ability,  shrewd  common 
sense,  and  his  farsightedness,  integrity,  and  human- 
ity made  his  ofiBcial  acts  constructive  incidents  in 
the  growth  of  the  American  commonwealth. 

In  his  personal  relations  he  was  loyal,  affection- 
ate, and  gsnerous.  In  behalf  of  his  brother  he 
addressed  dignified  and  just  appeals  to  the  Vir- 
ginian authorities  for  payment  of  the  debts 
which  George  Rogers  Clark  had  contracted  in  the 
equipment  of  his  Illinois  campaigns.    And  when 


7«  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Vii;ginia  would  not  pay,  and  George  Rogers  Clark 
could  not,  William  Clark  assumed  the  burden.  It 
was  his  insistence  that  won  at  last  a  small  pension 
for  his  brother.  He  also  paid  notes  of  Lewis's 
which  had  been  protested,  so  that  the  honor  of  his 
dead  friend  should  not  be  smirched.  We  know 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  forget  the  Bird-Woman  who 
had  guided  him  safely  to  Three  Forks  on  his  home- 
ward journey,  since  he  offered  to  adopt  and  educate 
the  son  born  to  her  on  the  march,  and  presuma- 
bly also  he  was  responsible  for  the  appointment 
of  old  Charboneau  as  interpreter  at  the  Missouri 
Sub-Agency  in  1837. 

William  Clark  married  twice  and  was  the  father 
of  seven  children.  His  first  wife  was  the  lady  for 
whom,  as  he  supposed,  he  had  named  Judith  River. 
He  died  in  1838,  aged  sixty-eight  years,  and  he  was 
buried  in  Missouri. 

Clark  lived  to  see  great  changes  come  to  Mis- 
souri after  the  transfer  of  the  territory  to  Ameri- 
can rule.  Then  St.  Louis  was  only  a  small  vil- 
lage, backward  in  comparison  with  any  American 
settlement  of  its  size,  and  La  Charette,  some 
forty  odd  miles  to  the  northwest,  was  the  farthest 
frontier.  But  in  1838  there  were  many  thriving 
American  settlements  in  Missouri,  and  St.  Louis 


LEWIS  AND  CLARK  73 

was  the  emporium  of  a  vast  trade  in  furs,  the  ar- 
teries of  which  ran  through  that  great  wilderness 
first  mapped  and  in  part  first  explored  by  I^ewis 
and  Clark. 


m 


H 


CHAPTER  III 


THE   REIQN   OP  THE   TRAPPER 


The  fur  trade  of  North  America  —  which  en- 
couraged and  sustained  the  earliest  French  and 
English  explorations  inland,  which  was  the  chief 
spoil  fought  for  in  the  colonial  wars,  and  which 
swept  across  the  continent,  the  forerunner  of  colo- 
nization, to  see  the  last  days  of  its  glory  in  Old 
Oregon  —  began  as  an  accident.  It  was  not  furs 
in  the  first  place  that  brought  Europeans  adven- 
turing on  the  northern  shores  of  the  New  World. 
Immediately  in  the  wake  of  those  earliest  mariners 
searching  for  the  pathway  to  the  East  came  other 
sea  rovers  to  fish  for  cod.  This  takes  us  back 
to  Sebastian  Cabot.  Sebastian  returned  from  the 
second  English  voyage  to  America  —  the  voyage 
of  1498  —  with  marvelous  fish  stories,  which  so 
stirred  the  watermen  of  Europe  that  fishing  vessels 
from  England,  France,  and  Portugal  were  soon  on 
the  Banks  of  Newfoimdland.    Presently  Spaniards 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  75 

joined  them,  and  it  was  not  long  before  Ba:ique 
whalers  from  the  Bay  of  Biscay  were  wrestling  with 
Leviathan  in  American  waters.  The  French  seem 
to  have  led  all  the  rest,  even  as  they  were  later  to 
lead  the  way  as  trappers  and  fur  traders. '  The 
fishing  fleets  went  out  in  April  and  returned  in 
August.  The  industry  was  divided,  then  as  now, 
into  "green  "  and  "dry."  The  dry-cod  fishers  built 
platforms  on  shore  on  which  they  split  and  dried 
their  fish.  Each  ship  had  its  own  station  to  which 
its  crew  returned  year  after  year.  And  these  dry- 
cod  fishers,  who  lived  partly  on  shore  for  three 
months  of  every  fishing  season,  were  the  first  white 
men  to  trade  with  the  Indians  for  furs. 

We  should  not  turn  away  too  quickly  from  the 
picture  of  the  first  Indian  who  stepped  forward  to 
offer  a  beaver  pelt  to  a  man  of  our  race  in  exchange 
for  some  trmket  made  in  Europe.  That  picture 
illustrates  the  opening  chapter  of  a  great  romance. 
The  Indian's  gesture  beckons  the  white  man  to  the 
free  march  of  the  forest  trail  and  the  rhythmic 
glide  of  the  birch  canoe.     His  beaver  pelt  is  a  sign 

•  By  U78  the  French  had  150  vesieli  off  Nova  Scotia  and  New- 
foundland—aa  against  100  Spanish,  SO  Portuguese.  iS  Bajque, 
and  SO  English  vessels  —  and  in  1803,  four  j-eara  prior  to  the 
Jamestown  settlement,  they  had  nearly  600  ships  on  the  Banks. 
See  H.  P.  Biggar,  Early  Trading  Covifaniu  of  New  Franc, 


'f ! 


76  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

pointing  northward,  southward,   westward. 


All 


trails  lead  to  the  beaver  lands;  and,  in  following 
them,  the  trapper  shall  pierce  to  the  Frozen  Sea 
•nd  to  the  Ocean  of  the  Setting  Sun.  And.  beside 
those  great  inland  waters  of  which  the  old  mariners 
dreamed,  his  camp  fire  shall  glow  like  a  sUr  dropped 
upon  the  waste. 

It  was  the  French  who  first  caught  the  vision  of 
the  fur  trade.    The  Dutch  bartered  with  the  In- 
dians at  Manhattan  and  far  up  the  Hudson.    And 
English  traders  were  the  first  pathfinders  across 
the  Appalachians.    But  it  was  Frenchmen  who. 
in  advance  of  all  others,  pursued  the  little  beaver 
into  the  wilds  of  the  continent.     If  the  goal  they 
sought  was  the  legendary  strait,  their  activities 
were  quickened  and  supported  by  the  fur  trade. 
It  was  as  fur  traders  that  Champlain  and  his  associ- 
ates explored  the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes.     It 
was  the  beaver  that  lured  on  Radisson  and  Groseil- 
Uers,  the  first  white  men  to  reach  the  prairies  be- 
yond the  Great  Lakes  and  probably  the  first  to 
pass  overland  to  Hudson  Bay.    Again  it  was  the 
beaver  that  made  possible  the  exploration  of  the 
Mississippi  by  Joliet  and  Marquette  and  La  Salle, 
and  the  discovery  of  the  Saskatchewan,  and  of  the 
Black  Hills  of  South  Dakota  by  La  Virendrye. 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  77 

Before  New  France  fell  the  French  had  istab- 
lished  trading  posts  reaching  from  Montreal  up  the 
Great  Lakes,  across  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  on  to 
Lake  Winnipeg,  and  up  the  Saskatchewan  as  far  as 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  By  a  chain  of  forts  circling 
southward,  from  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario,  they 
dominated  the  Ohio,  the  Wabash,  the  Wisconsin, 
and  the  Illinois.  They  were  on  the  Arkansas,  the 
Red,  the  Osage,  and  the  Kansas.  Through  Kas- 
kaskia,  New  Orleans,  Fort  Alabama,  and  their  itin- 
erant trade  with  the  tribes  from  Tennessee  to  the 
Gulf,  they  were  masters  of  the  Mississippi. 

For  the  Frenchman  in  Old  Canada  the  life  of  the 
wilderness  had  an  irresistible  lure.     In  vain  the 
authorities  at  Quebec  tried  to  compel  him  to  live 
within  the  settlements  and  cultivate  the  soil.     The 
glamor  of  the  woods  drew  him  away  to  follow  the 
beaver  with  the  Indian  trappers.     He  married 
among  the  Indians  and  reared  his  children  in  their 
lodges.     Thus  there  sprang  up  that  new  and  en- 
tirely unique  type  of  man.  the  courmir-de-bois.  or 
trapper,  and  his  complement  and  companion,  the 
voyageur,  or  canoeman  —  rovers  of  the  forest;  first 
offspring  of  France  in  the  New  World;  speaking 
two  mother  tongues;  care  free  and  good-humored; 
disdainful  of  hardship  and  danger;  and  indifferent 


'4: 


r-f  1 


.{',m 


78  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

to  all  education  other  than  the  Indian's  lore.  The 
governor  might  ban  them;  the  priest  might  deplore 
their  impiety;  but  through  them  France  wielded 
the  first  great  fur  empire  of  North  America. 

This,  however,  was  not  an  undisputed  empire. 
There  was  soon  an  English  rival  in  the  field  —  a 
rival  for  which  two  Frenchmen  were  responsible. 
It  was  in  the  summer  of  1666  that  those  intrepid 
wanderers  and  traders,  Radisson  and  Groseilliers, 
having  fallen  foul  of  the  Governor  at  Quebec  in 
the  matter  of  crading  licenses,  found  themselves  — 
after  a  series  of  vicissitudes  —  in  London.     Out  of 
ruin,  persecution,  and  shipwreck,  they  entered  into 
a  city  of  gloom.     London  lay  under  the  pall  of  the 
Great  Plague.     The  gay  monarch,  Charles  II,  had 
fled  to  Oxford  and  was  holding  court  there,  sur- 
rounded by  his  favorite  nobles  and  his  best  beloved 
ladies.     But  the  King  was  bored;  he  found  life  at 
Oxford  very  dull;  so  he  welcomed  the  chance  of 
hearing  the  two  French  castaways  tell  their  marvel- 
ous tales  of  adventure  in  the  New  World.     He  en- 
joyed their  stories  —  thought  them  so  good  as  to 
be  worth  forty  shillings  a  week  for  the  rest  of  the 
year,  a  verj-  fair  pension  indeed  for  a  couple  of 
entertainers  in  those  days. 
By  the  winter  of  1666-67  fire  had  swept  London 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER         70 
clean  of  contagion,  and  the  King  and  his  courtiers 
returned  to  the  city.    Once  in  London  and  still 
under  the  royal  favor,  the  merry  monarch's  two 
entertainers  became  the  rage.    Prince  Rupert,  the 
King's  Admiral  and  cousin,  just  home  from  the 
Dutch  Wars,  was  much  taken  with  them.    So  were 
the  aldermen  and  the  high  patrons  of  commerce- 
for,  though  the  Dutch  wars  had  given  to  England 
the  Dutch  colony  of  Ne\/  Netherland  on  the  Hud- 
son, they  had  been  disastrous  to  English  trade  upon 
the  sea;  and  patriotic  and  practical  Englishmen 
were  looking  all  ways  for  means  to  recoup  their 
losses.     So   Radisson   and   Groseilliers   (the   lat- 
ter appears  in  the  records  as  "Mr.  Gooseberry") 
were  invited  to  castle,  tavern,  and  coffee-house 
to  expound  their  views  on   the  fur  trade  over 
roasted  pullets. 

This  abundant  feasting  and  story-telling  had  its 
dhiouement,  first,  in  a  voyage  to  the  shores  of  Hud- 
son Bay  to  establish  the  verity  of  the  Frenchmen's 
tales  as  to  the  trading  opportunity  in  that  region, 
which  was  English  by  right  of  Hudson's  discovery 
in  1610.  and,  secondly,  in  a  charter  given  under  the 
King's  seal  in  1670,  granting  unto  his  cousin  Prince 
Rupert  and  seventeen  courtiers,  designated  as 
the  "Governor  and  Company  of  Adventurers  of 


■(  i 


80  ADVENTOllERS  OF  OREGON 

England  trading  into  Hudson's  Bay,"  in  feudal 
domain,  all  the  lands  drained  by  waters  flowing  into 
that  great  inland  sea.    This  charter,  giving  away 
an  empire  almost  half  the  size  of  Europe,  the  King 
signed  with  his  quill  pen.    He  was  richly  •garbed 
for  the  ceremony  in  the  new  style  of  coat  and  vest 
designed  by  himself.     He  was  in  a  happy  frame  of 
mind,  for  now  he  had  an  antidote  for  the  tantrums 
of  milady  Castlemaine  in  the  warm-hearted  gaiety 
of  "pretty  witty  Nellie, "  as  the  diarist  Pepys  calls 
Nell  Gwyn.    Surrounding  the  King,  as  he  aflSxed 
his  royal  signature  to  the  instrument,  stood  the 
"gentlemen-adventurers"  named  therein,  among 
them  the  weak  James,  Duke  of  York,  afterwards 
King,  and  the  martial  Hupert,  soldier,  sailor,  and 
artist,  a  man  of  power,  and  the  outstanding  figure 
of  the  group.     Had  Rupert  been  King  instead  of 
that  pretty  philanderer  in  the  chair,  perhaps  the 
course  of  these  eventful  years  would  have  been 
better  for  England.    But  who  can  know?    What 
one  of  that  brilliant  group  imagined  that  the  Com- 
pany they  formed  would  long  outlive  the  Stuart 
dynasty?  It  was  decreed  that  the  territory  granted 
under  the  charter  should  henceforth  be  known 
as  Rupert's  Land.    But,  though  the  Company  of 
which  Rupert  was  the  first  Governor  still  flourishes. 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  81 
there  is  no  Rupert's  Land  mentioned  on  any  map 
of  that  country  today. 

The  Company  sent  ships  to  Hudson  Bay  and 
built  forts  on  the  Nelson  and  Hayes  rivers  and  on 
James  Bay.    Yearly  three  vessels  sailed  from  Eng- 
land with  goods  and  returned  laden  with  furs.    Un- 
like the  French  traders,  the  oflScers  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  did  not  range  the  woods  to  trade 
but  lived  in  feudal  state  within  their  stockaded 
forts  and  waited  for  the  Lidians  to  come  to  them. 
As  a  group  of  Indians  approached  one  of  the  forts, 
the  commander  and  his  subordinates  would  emeigj 
to  greet  them.    The  commander  wore  a  periwig,  a 
sword,  and  a  silken  cloak.    His  manner  was  courte- 
ous and  aloof,  his  discourse  dignified  and  straight- 
forward.   The  Indians  quickly  learned  to  know 
him  as  a  man  of  his  word  and  a  trader  who  had  one 
price  and  no  rum.    This  way  of  trading  worked 
very  well  for  a  short  time.    But  one  year  it  was 
noticed  that  fewer  Indians  were  coming  to  trade; 
the  next  year  there  were  fewer  still.    The  reason 
was  soon  learned.    Canadian  traders,  branching 
north  from  the  St.  Lawrence,  were  intercepting  the 
tribes  and  getting  their  furs. 

These  Canadians,  a  company  of  stout  traders  and 
dare-devils  as  reckless  and  unscrupulous  as  ever 


8«  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

ranged  the  wild*,  saw  that  English  fro«t  on  the 
shores  of  Hudson  Bay  threatening  blight  to  the 
Ulies  of  France.    But  this  was  the  year  1686, 
and  France  and  England  were  at  peace.    And 
could  some  hundred  armed  men  pass  through  the 
gates  of  Quebec  on  their  dash  to  Hudson  Bay  with- 
out the  cognizance  of  the  Governor?    They  could, 
if  the  Governor  would  look  over  his  other  shoulder. 
Beautiful  indeed  were  the  gates  of  Quebec  to  the 
eyes  of  every  loyal  Canadian:  but  were  there  not 
other  fine  views  to  be  admired  from  the  castle  win- 
dows?   Evidently  the  Governor  thought  so,  for  • 
raiding  force  was  presently  on  its  way  overland  to 
Hudson  Bay.    With  the  marauders,  dressed  as  In- 
dians, went  three  Le  Moynes,  young  men  in  their 
twenties,  one  of  them  that  Pierre  Le  Moyne  d'lber- 
^le  later  to  win  fame  on  land  and  sea  as  the  most 
illustrious  fighter  of  New  France  »nd  as  the  founder 
of  the  colony  of  Louisiana  which  Jefferson  was  to 
add  to  the  United  States. 

Swiftly,  by  forest,  stream,  and  swamp,  the  raiders 
sped  northward  until  they  reached  the  outskirts  of 
the  English  Fort  Moose  on  the  shore  of  James  Bay. 
Lurking  low  in  the  shadows  of  tie  moonlit  brush 
fringe,  Iberville  took  note  of  the  drowsy  sen- 
try.   Then  he  darted  forward,  his  moccasined  feet 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER         s.-j 
no«leM  on  the  «od.  «,d  plunge^J  hi,  dagger  through 
the  w.tehm«.-.  throat.    The  snoring  trader,  with- 
m  the  fort  woke  to  the  firing  of  gun,,  the  dink 
of  .teel.  and  the  y...Il,  of  savage  men  leaping  and 
dambermg  over  tie  bastion,.    Before  the  sleep 
w..  out  of  their  eye ,.  their  fort  wa,  lost  -  and  with 
It  their  great  pack,  of  furs.     Fort  Moose  was  ouly 
the  beginning.    All  the  fort,  on  the  Bay  save  one 
were  looted  by  the  raiders,  who  then  returned  to 
Quebec  a,  fast  a,  they  could  travel  under  Uieir 
burden  of  furs. 

TheAdventurer,ofEngland  carefully  transcribed 
theu-  loMe,  in  neat  column,  and  doggedly  set  the 
helm  of  their  fortunes  once  more  for  the  scene  e' 
thetf  duaster,  only  to  meet  again  with  the  same 
fate     One  summer  day,  a,  the  supply  ship,  f^^. 
England  «,Jed  mto  the  Bay  against  a  stiff  wind, 
they  apoke  a  vewel  wafting  out  merrily  under 
hill  canvas  with  the  Union  Jack  at  her  masthead 
Homeward  bound!    "A  goode  wind  and  a  faire 
«ul  to  her!"    They  plodded  on  -  to  anchor  before 
fort,  looted  and  wrecked.    It  was  indeed  one  of 
their  own  ships  that  had  saUed  by  them,  packet! 
deep  with  furs;  but  the  skipper  of  that  ship  was 
Iberv'lie.  the  raider. 
Iberville  made  his  last  visit  to  Hudson  Bay  in 


84  ADVENTUKERS  OF  OREGON 

1697.  before  the  Peace  of  Ryswick.  Now  that 
France  and  England  were  at  war.  he  wore,  not  the 
Ued  buckskin  of  a  coureur-de-lms,  but  the  am- 
form  of  a  naval  officer  of  France,  and  he  com- 

sanded  the  Pelican,  a  French  ---^-;-  «^ 
fought  three  armed  English  vesselson  the  Baj  and 

aef  ated  them  after  a  savage  fight  am.d  the  ice- 
floes It  was  a  strange  setting  for  a  naval  battle. 
Sapsthefurtiveanimalsofthewildemesshear^ 

Z  a  Lund  roll  in  heavier  than  the  roar  of  W 
Z  surf,  stood  still  in  their  tracks  and  st^ened  at 
the  thunder  of  that  fierce  fight  f  or  thar  pelts_ 
After  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  in  1713.  when  Hud 
son  Bay  was  restored  to  England,  the  Adventurers 
Tengthenedtheir  half-dozen  postson  the  Bay  and 

Stthe  great  stone  fort  named  Prince  of  Wales. 
oftleChurchiURiver.-  This  fort  mooted  fort^ 
two  camion  -  six  to  twenty-four  pounders  -^d 
wasmannedby  some  two  score  men.  T^e posters 
Th"  other  forts  listed  from  eleven  to  forty  men 
Ip  «:e  And  there  in  the  bleak  stilbess  and  lone- 
rJof  the  waste,  year  in   year  out^^ese«.n 

Uved  and  traded  with  the  Indians.    They  drank 
*utr«yV    IUruin..r..tai.Uod.ng. 


funtingisf  Cfc«te.  WiUwq  PeJ,  j,  ; 
■■a    ,  tVUMl,^ 


M  ADVENTrREUS  OK  ( >H  K! .( 'N 

109T,  betore  the  l'<  ace  of  l?v>vvitU  -S'.nv  that 
Franci-  i-nd  Ktigland  wore  at  war.  h:-v<:n:  not  the 
frmg.-ii  l.jckskiu  of  a  (:rure,,r-(k-U,i,u  but  Uii-  ur.i- 
f„ru.  of  a  naval  oflicer  uf  FraiKv.  upJ  V.'-  com- 
mandcd  the  t'elu-an.  a  Frenrh  uu.n-o{-wi;i.  Hr 
fought  tht«-  anr.rd  Kiiglish  vessels  on  the  Hay  iukI 
,!cffaV.a  th.-rv  efU-r  n  ■-^'^Hge  i'^^l-  "i^''-^  ''"'  '-'■^'- 
tiocs.  11  ttu-  .1  »t.-ai-.^i'  ;-'>-tting  for  u  nuv^ii  biil lie. 
Pcrh«i>s  th-  f  (irli->  o  « a.ym!*  of  the  « ikK mes^,  he«r- 
itv  a  so'i-   ■  •  ."  '^^  '.■  ^--"r  thrin  the  loar  of  ^viud 

\f(,.ril,>'  !  ...'  '.  "■  :  5  m  1713,  n-hcii  ll'i.i- 
,on  Bay  ^.«.s  r-.-l<>;«i  I"  t  T.i,l.:ml.  ih-i  Advcntur.rs 
strrtiRlheued  their  half  .|.«.-ii  ;>oj,ti  oil  the  Buy  .<ud 
biiilt  tlu-  great  sloco  fort  riiUiied  Pviiie.-  oi  Waiea. 
ot,  the  (  iro-ehiU  River, '  th  .  fort  n.ount"d  forty- 
two  riiniiou  -  ?ix  to  tttenl;,  -iw.r  pounder.^  -  aud 
V.  a:^  manned  by  ^;.me  tv. ._.  ..-or-  niea.  The  rosters 
of  the  other  forts  \it,Ud  {■•  i..  .levru  to  forty  nicr, 
apieee.  Xml  tbere  In  the  bleak  .  tirme,.s  ana  hmc- 
lintS'*  of  the  WHste.  .\e.u'  in  y.-Hr  out.  tbe'e  iu-n 
lived  Ml  •  traded  with  'he  S^-b^n.s.     They  drinW 

Th,.  for-    ..».  ?:.rt,-:h     :— -!  <"   '-^^  l-^  "'«   ''^"•^ 
lutHi'iat}-  W.r.     lu  tuics  ut  »titi  •t•^lltln^- 


1 1: 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  85 
snow-water  for  nine  months  of  the  year  because 
the  river  was  salt  for  twelve  miles  above  its  mouth; 
m  the  brief  summers  they  hauled  fresh  water  with 
three  draft  horses  kept  for  the  purpose.  Their 
most  pleasant  duty,  says  one  of  them,  was  killing 
partridges. 

But.  in  truth,  very  little  is  known  of  what  hap- 
pened during  these  years  on  Hudson  Bay.     When 
the  last  echo  of  Iberville's  guns  died  away,  a  cur- 
tain of  silence,  thick  and  vast  as  the  northern  snows, 
dropped  between  the  traders  on  the  Bay  and  the 
bustling  world.     The  records  of  the  following  years 
he  m  the  cellars  of  Hudson's  Bay  House  in  London; 
barely  a  hint  of  their  contents  has  reached  us.    We 
know  that  yearly  the  ships  came  and  went,  bearing 
huge  packi  of  furs  home  to  London.     We  know, 
too.   that  gifts  were  made  — silver  fox  tippets 
for  Queen  Anne,  beaver  socks  for  a  George  or 
twj.  "catt  skin  counterpanes"  for  some  lordship's 
"bedd."    Portly  merchants  and  rich  nobles,  with 
their  good  dames,  walked  abroad  in  fur  trimmings 
to  stir  the  envious.     Milord  might  be  heard  to  say 
that  he  had  paid  •   pretty  penny  for  his  beaver 
mittens  —  "egad,  sir,  yes,  in  good  English  money!" 
But  little  could  he  compute  the  cost  of  them.    Be- 
hind that  screen  of  silence  was  the  true  reckoning 


.N' 


*  1 1 


■  11 


86  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

made  — where,  at  the  short  summer's  end,  the 
white  haze  gathered  and  lowered  and  moved  down 
over  land  and  sea,  with  a  breath  like  steel,  stilling 
the  waters,  burying  the  land,  piling  white  towers 
about  the  trees,  rearing  white  cr-gs  along  the 
shore,  drifting  against  the  doors  of  the  trading 
posts,  shutting  out  the  light  of  the  windowpanes 
with  a  white  tapestry,  dropping,  dropping.  "We 
cannot  reckon  any  man  happy,"  said  one,  "whose 
lot  is  cast  upon  this  Bay."  These  were  the  cost 
of  milord's  mittens  —  the  monotonous  life,  the 
loneliness  of  the  silent  years. 


Meanwhile,  far  to  the  south  of  Hudson  Bay,  the 
great  struggle  between  France  and  England  dragged 
on.  The  Americans  were  pushing  westward  to  the 
tribes  hitherto  trading  with  the  French.  At  length 
the  Governor  of  Virginia  sent  the  young  George 
Washington  to  drive  the  French  away  from  an 
English  trading  post  on  the  Ohio,  where  Pittsburgh 
now  stands,  and  the  first  shots  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War  cracked  across  Great  Meadows.  The  con- 
quest of  Canada  followed;  and  its  bloody  after- 
math, the  Indian  rising  called  Por»tiac's  War  — 
which  was  the  red  man's  protest  against  the  new 
masters  of  the  interior  trading  posts,  the  English 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  87 

colonial  traders  —  ran  its  course.  But  cht  fierce 
struggle  for  the  hapless  litt.  btaver  was  only 
beginning. 

Out  of  the  ashes  of  the  old  French  fur  trade, 
which  was  under  governmental  ward,  arose  a 
swarm  of  "free  traders."    Among  them  was  a 
woods  rover  of  a  new  type.    English  and  French 
pursuing  the  beaver  we  have  already  seen.    Now 
in  the  throng  of  the  free  traders  the  Scot  appears. 
We  shall  find  him  presently  taking  the  French- 
man's place  among  the  Indians  and  rising  to  a 
leadership  in  the  fur  trade  which  he  is  never  to 
surrender.    He  had  his  difficulties  at  first.    The 
Indians  in  the  old  French  hinterland  distinguished 
only  between  French  and  English;  and  to  them  the 
Scot  was  an  Englishman,  one  of  a  race  they  had 
been  taught  by  the  French  to  hate. 

One  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  of  the  free  trad- 
ers to  enter  the  old  French  country  was  Alexan- 
der Henry,  the  elder.  In  1761  Henry  went  from 
Montreal  to  Fort  Michilimackinac.  This  fort  was 
a  strategic  point,  as  it  commanded  the  route  into 
Lake  Superior,  and  was  the  chief  depot  for  the  furs 
from  the  territory  comprising  Wisconsin  and  Michi- 
gan. Here  Henry  was  visited  by  sixty  Chippe- 
was.  then-  faces  blackened  with  war  paint,  and 


^'* 


88  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

tomahawlu  and  scalping  knives  in  their  hands. 
They  consented,  however,  to  trade  with  him  and  as- 
sured him  that  he  might  "sleep  tranquilly  without 
fear  of  the  Chippewas."  This  was  a  sweet  promise 
not  long  kept;  for  during  Pontiac's  War,  two  years 
later,  the  same  Indians,  with  some  Ottawas,  mur- 
dered the  English  at  Michilimackinac  and  took 
Henry  prisoner.  He  was  saved  only  by  the  friendly 
offices  of  a  Chippewa  who  had  formerly  adopttd 
him  as  a  brother. 

The  "Handsome  Englishman,"  as  the  Indians 
called  Henry,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  British 
trader  to  push  beyond  Michilimackinac  into  the 
Lake  Superior  country.  By  1767  his  canoes  were 
on  Lake  Winnipeg.  He  spent  sixteen  years  in  the 
wilderness  and  penetrated  at  least  as  far  north  as 
Beaver  Lake  and  the  Churchill  River.  On  the 
way  to  the  Churchill  he  traveled  with  three  other 
adventurers  whose  names  are  distinguished  in  the 
fur  trade,  the  Frobishers  and  Peter  Pond. 

It  was  not  long,  indeed,  before  the  free  trad- 
ers from  Montreal  and  Quebec  were  overrunning 
the  North  and  establisliing  themselves  in  Rupert's 
Land  —  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  The  Frobishers  built  Cumberland  House 
on  the  Saskatchewan  and  Fort  Isle  k  la  Crosse 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER         89 
on  the  lake  of  the  same  name  a  little  north  of  the 
junction  of  the  Beaver  and  Churchill  rivers.    Both 
sites,  commanding  the  waterways  to  Hudson  Bay, 
were  admirably  chosen.    At  these  forts  the  Indians 
going  down  to  the  Bay  were  intercepted  and  in- 
duced —  by  higher  prices  or  by  rum  —  to  sell  furs 
that  were,  in  some  instances,  already  paid  for  by 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  credits.    Up  to  this 
time  the  old  Company  had  maintained  its  tradi- 
tional aloofness,  and,  except  for  some  notable  ex- 
ploring expeditions,  it  had  not  stirred  inland  from 
its  forts  on  the  Bay.    But  in  1774,  Samuel  Heame, 
the  Company's  celebrated  young  explorer,  discov- 
erer of  the  Coppermine  River,  came  up  from  the 
big  stone  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Churrhill  and 
built  Cumberland  House,  on  the  lake  of  the  same 
name.    The  old  Company  saw  at  last  that  it  would 
be  obliged  to  branch  inland  for  the  protection  of 
its  trade. 

The  free  traders  hurt  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, but  they  hurt  themselves  much  -nore  — 
sometimes  to  the  extent  of  killing  one  another. 
And  their  competition  and  their  rum  were  disas- 
trous to  the  Indians.  Traders  were  murdered  by 
Indians  on  the  march;  theii  forts  were  attacked  and 
bumed,andtheirgoodswerestoIen.  Theprecarious 


l! 


80  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

condition  to  which  the  free  traders  at  length  re- 
duced themselves  is  reflected  in  ax  official  report  to 
the  Governor  of  Canada  on  the  fur  trade,  written 
in  1780.  This  report  says  that,  though  the  furs 
reproducing  an  annual  return  of  £200,000 sterling, 
the  gathering  of  them  is  carried  on  at  great  expense, 
labor,  and  risk  of  both  men  and  property  —  every 
year  furnishing  instances  of  the  loss  of  men  and 
goods  by  accident  or  otherwise:  that  the  traders  in 
general  are  not  men  of  substance  but  are  obliged 
to  obtain  credit  from  the  merchants  of  Montreal 
and  Quebec  for  each  year's  supply  of  goods;  and 
that,  when  their  trade  fails,  they  are  destitute  of 
every  means  to  pay  their  debts.' 

It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  the  rival  traders  at 
both  Michilimackinac  and  Montreal  took  counsel 
together  and  decided  to  put  an  end  to  ruinous  com- 
petition. The  Michilimackinac  Company,  formed 
in  1779,  was  an  association  of  thirty  traders  called 
the  Mackinaws.  In  the  same  year  nine  houses  in 
Montreal  trading  west  of  Lake  Superior  joined 
forces;  and  four  years  later  (1783)  these  Montreal 
merchants,  with  some  others  under  the  leadership 


■  A  Rport  to  Haldimand,  dated  1780,  signed  by  nine  trading 
houMl  of  Montreal.  Cited  by  Davidwn,  Tlu  .\orth  Wtil  Com- 
psay,  Appendii,  page  tse. 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  9t 
of  the  Frobiahew  and  Simon  McTaviah,  united 
in  the  partnership  since  known  as  tha  North-West 
Company,  or  the  Nor' westers,  the  stormy  petrels 
of  the  northern  wilds. 

The  NorVesters  began  in  strife.    Some  of  the 
"  wmterers  "  -  partners  who  wintered  in  the  great 
white  land  —  were  dissaUsfied  with  the  shares  al- 
lotted them  and  violently  withdrew.    Among  these 
was  Peter  Pond,  explorer  of  the  Athabaska  and 
Great  Slave  regions,  and  too  powerful  a  man  to 
be  left  in  enmity.    His  demands  were  speedily 
met.  and  he  joined  the  Company.    At  this,  the 
fnends  who  had  withdrawn  with  him  were  furi- 
ously incensed.    They  banded  togethe-  and  made 
war  on  the  North-West  Company's  brigades.    Tt 
became  a  war  with  powder  and  shot,  for  the 
Nor'westers  stopped  at  nothing  to  smash  their 
small  rival.    But  when  Pond  killed  Ross,  a  Itad- 
er  among  the  aUied  free  traders,  both  factiom. 
took  fright  and  united  in  haste  to  forestall  any 
undesired  investigation  by  the  authorities.    This 
beginning   was    prophetic.    In    the    violence   c* 
their  methods  -  and,  be  it  said,  in  the  brilliance 
of  their  achievements -the  Nor'westers  were  to 
prove  themselves  deserving  successors  of  the  ma- 
raudmg  and  plundering  Frenchmen  on  Hudson 


M  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Bay  and  alio  of  the  illuttriour  French  exploren  of 
Old  Canada. 

The  majority  of  the  partners  were  Scotch  High- 
landers; and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  they 
brought  to  their  trade  rivalry  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  the  spirit  of  Celtic  chiefs  at  war. 
Their  rival  was  a  chartered  company  with  a  mo- 
nopolistic grant,  while  they  were  only  an  association 
without  royal  favor.  The  Nor'westers,  therefore, 
saw,  as  their  first  need,  a  loyal  organization,  every 
man  of  which  should  be  bound  to  their  interests  by 
his  own.  Hence  it  was  arranged  that  a  clerk  could 
become  a  partner  after  a  brief  term  of  service,  the 
length  of  which  depended  upon  his  own  initiative. 
Thus  the  Company  attracted  bold  and  rp.'olute 
young  men  who  were  not  minded  to  let  fears  or 
scruples  shut  them  off  from  the  coveted  goal.  The 
man  who  could  produce  results  counted  highest 
with  the  Nor'westers.  Even  some  of  the  original 
partners  contributed  only  their  experience  and 
energy:  these  were  the  "\.interers"  who  com- 
manded the  trapping  army  in  the  field.  The 
funds  and  the  goods  for  trade  were  found  by  the 
partners  resident  in  Montreal.  But  the  real 
sinews  of  war  were  the  voyageuri  and  the  cout- 
0UT»-de-bois,  of  whom  the  North- West  Company 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  93 
employed  great  numben.  The  servants  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  chiefly  English  and 
Scotch,  who  had  first  to  learn  the  ways  of  the  wild 
and  so  were  no  match  for  the  Canadian  boatmen 
and  trappers,  the  product  of  several  generations 
of  wilderness  life. 

Tlie  Nor' westers  made  their  interior  headquar- 
ters on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  first  at 
Grand  Portage  (Minnesota)  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Pigeon  River,  and  later  at  Fort  William  (Ontario) 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Kaministikwia.    These  posta 
were  outside  the  royal  domain  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  but  not  far;  only  a  day's  journey  over 
the  watershed  separated  them  from  the  Rainy 
Lake  region  drained  by  Hudson  Bay  and  therefore 
Rupert's  Land  or  Hudson's  Bay  Territory .     Prom 
Grand  Portage  the  Nor' westers'  brigades  ranged 
westward  through  Rupert's  Land  and  fur  north 
to  the  Athabaska  and  Great  Slave  Lakes.    They 
also  tapped  the  territory  south  of  Lake  Superior 
and  southwest  as  far  as  the  Mandan  towns  on  the 
Missouri.     Nor  did  they  wholly  respect  the  regions 
to  the  southwest  sacred  to  the  Mackinaws,  with 
whose  men  they  frequently  clashed. 

To  the  voyageur  of  the  Nor' westers'  brigades 
there  was  only  one  person  more  ridiculous  than  a 


94  ADVENTUHEKS  OF  OREGON 

Mackinaw  voyageur,  and  that  was  a  Hudson's  Bay 
man.  The  Mackinaw  voyageur  might  be  a  great 
man  in  his  own  opinion;  but  let  him  walk  humbly 
when  men  of  the  Nor'westers  hove  to  at  Michili- 
mackinac  for  extra  canoes  on  their  way  to  le  pays 
d'En  HautI  "Je  suit  un  homme  du  Nordt"  the 
Nor' wester  would  brag  as  he  jostled  aside  the  de- 
spised Mackinaw.  Anything  to  provoke  a  fight! 
Like  master,  like  man !  Such  discourtesies  well  re- 
flected the  views  of  the  partners  themselves  to- 
wards their  rivals  in  trade.  The  Nor'westers  held 
in  contempt  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with 
its  slow  ways  and  its  code  of  lawful  dealing.  Its 
pious  principles  —  one  price,  no  violence,  and  no 
rum  for  Indians  —  the  Nor'westers  regarded  with 
unutterable  scorn. 

But  let  us  see  what  these  Nor'westers  did  to  roll 
back  the  mystery  of  unknown  lands.  Far  to  the 
northwest,  a  thousand  miles  from  Lake  Superior, 
stood  their  Fort  Chipewyan,  on  the  south  side  of 
Lake  Athabaska.  There  lived  Alexander  Macken- 
zie, a  young  Scot  in  his  thirties,  who  had  begun  his 
career  as  a  clerk  in  a  free  trading  establishment  and 
because  of  his  abilities  had  been  granted  a  part- 
nership in  the  North-West  Company.  Mackenzie 
proposed  to  make  Fort  Chipewyan  not  merely  an 


THE  REIGN  OP  THE  TRAPPER         96 
outpost  of  his  Coirauiij-b  tradp  but  the  emporium 
.  of  the  greatest  tra  iper's  county  on  the  continent. 
He  saw  the  commai  .(!i  v  positic  j  of  his  fort  on  Lake 
Athabaska  as  the  central  depot  for  a  vast  traffic. 
Great  water  highways  led  to  it  from  every  direction. 
On  the  south  and  west  the  inflowing  streams  of  the 
Athabaska  and  the  Peace  linked  him  on  the  one 
hand  to  the  Saskatchewan  Valley  and  on  the  other 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains.    To  the  east  lay  a  chain 
of  lakes  and  streams  stretching  towards  the  rivers 
entering  Hudson  Bay.    And  to  the  north  a  tre- 
mendous river,  issuing  from  Lake  Athabaska,  gath- 
ered up  its  mighty  waters  in  the  Great  Slave  Lake 
and  moved  on  through  the  northern  forests. 

This  river  was  unknown.  Beyond  the  Great 
Slave  Lake  no  white  man  had  followed  its  course 
to  the  Frozen  Sea.  Nor  had  any  white  man  yet 
penetrated  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  reached 
the  Pacific  by  land.  Both  these  achievements  fell 
to  the  glory  of  Alexander  Mackenzie.  In  the 
summer  of  1789  he  discovered  and  explored  to  the 
Arctic  the  great  river  now  known  as  the  Macken- 
zie. And  three  years  later,  he  passed  up  the  Peace 
River,  crossed  the  Rockies,  and,  on  July  22, 1793, 
painted  his  name  in  red  letters  on  a  rock  beside 
the  Pacific  Ocean. 


M 


96  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Mackenzie's  Odyssey  was  soon  the  gossip  and 
song  of  the  whole  North.  In  Rupert's  Land, 
building  forts  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  was 
a  young  surveyor  named  David  Thompson,  who 
was  greatly  disturbed  by  it  and  discontented.  He, 
too,  wished  to  cross  the  mountains  and  explore. 
His  ambition  was  to  survey  and  map  the  whole  of 
the  great  Northwest,  to  pierce  the  mystery  of  the 
wilderness  with  the  clear  light  of  science.  But 
Thompson's  pleas  to  the  Company  fell  on  deaf  ears. 
He  was  too  good  a  trader  and  altogether  too  valu- 
able a  man  to  send  awandering.  The  North-West 
Company,  however,  would  give  him  his  opportu- 
nity if  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  would  not.  So 
it  came  about  that  Thompson,  on  May  23,  1797, 
being  then  at  Deer  Lake,  wrote  in  his  journal: 
"This  Day  I  left  the  service  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  entered  that  of  the  Company  of 
the  Merchants  from  Canada.  May  God  Almighty 
prosper  me." 

Thompson  received  his  instructions  at  Gri:nd 
Portage  in  June,  the  month  after  he  entered  the 
Company's  service.  He  was  to  survey  and  map 
the  fur  country,  showing  the  geographical  position 
of  the  forts,  and  to  find  the  forty-ninth  parallel, 
which  was  to  mark  the  boundary  between  the 


THE  KEIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  »7 

American  and  British  Northwests.  He  was  to  go 
south  to  the  Missouri  and  explore  the  sites  of 
ancient  villages,  hunt  for  fossils,  and  learn  what  he 
could  of  the  ancient  history  of  the  country.  For 
the  rest  he  could  follow  his  heart's  desire;  and  his 
progress  would  be  facilitated  by  orders  on  the  trad- 
ing posts  for  whatever  he  needed  in  men  and  goods. 
His  was  the  biggest  dream  of  all.  Other  men 
sought  one  river;  but  to  Thompson  the  River  of 
the  West  was  only  as  a  single  brook  on  the  great 
map  he  meant  to  make  of  the  whole  Northwest. 

Thompson  set  out  from  Grand  Portage,  to  be  on 
trail  almost  continuously  for  nine  years.  In  that 
time  he  ranged  from  Great  Slave  Lake  to  the  Mis- 
souri, traced  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi, 
entered  the  Rocky  Mountains  from  the  head  of 
the  Saskatchewan,  made  numbers  of  geographical 
sketches  and  scientific  notes  on  the  country  from 
the  Rockies  to  Hudson  Bay  and  the  Great  Lakes, 
and  surveyed  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior."  His 
labors   were   by  no   means  ended.     In    1807  he 

■"Thompson  was  an  exceedingly  accurate  and  methodical 
surveyor,"  says  Mr.  J.  B.  Tyrrell  of  the  Geological  Survey  of 
Canada,  the  editor  of  Thompson's  Narrative;  "it  was  my  good 
fortune  to  travel  over  the  same  routes  that  he  had  travelled  a 
century  before,  and  while  my  instruments  may  have  been  better 
than  his.  his  surveys  and  observations  were  invariably  found  to 
have  an  accuracy  that  left  little  or  nothing  to  be  desired." 


98  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

crossed  the  Rockies.  He  spent  four  years  on  the 
Columbia  and  its  tributaries,  building  forts  and 
trading  with  new  tribes;  returning  to  the  Nor'- 
westers'  forts  east  of  the  mountains  from  time 
to  time  with  large  packs  of  furs.  He  was  thus 
the  first  man  tc  make  a  detailed  survey  of  those 
parts  of  Idaho,  Montana,  Washington,  and  British 
Columbia  which  are  watered  by  the  Columbia  or 
by  its  source  and  branch  streams. 

A  rare  man  was  David  Thompson  —  a  little 
man,  but  every  inch  of  him  an  inch  of  power.  Ex- 
cept for  his  short  stature  he  might  readily  have 
passed  for  an  Indian  with  his  jet  black  hair  cut 
straight  across  his  forehead,  fringing  his  brows, 
with  his  black  eyes,  and  his  tanned  cheeks  paintr^d 
with  Nature's  vermilion.  An  associate  has  left 
this  description  of  him:  "Never  mind  his  Bun- 
yan-like  face  and  cropped  hair:  he  has  a  very 
powerful  mind  and  a  singular  faculty  of  picture- 
making.  He  can  create  a  wilderness  and  people 
it  with  warring  savages,  or  climb  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains with  you  in  a  snow  stonn,  so  clearly  and 
palpably,  that  only  shut  your  eyes  and  you  hear 
the  crack  of  the  rifle,  or  fee!  the  snow  flakes  melt 
on  your  cheeks  as  he  talks."'    In  fort  or  on  trail 

■  Bigsby,  The  Sko0  and  Canat. 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  gg 

Thompson  ruled  his  men  like  a  benevolent  master; 
and  he  was  a  law  to  himself,  whatever  the  orders  of 
his  Company.     He  would  have  no  liquor  with  his 
brigades;  he  would  not  use  it  in  trade.     Once  two 
of  the  partners,  Donald  McTavish  and  John  Mc- 
Donald of  Garth  —  whom  we  shall  meet  later  — 
compelled  him  to  take  some  kegs  of  whiskey  for 
trade  with  the  tribes  in  the  mountains.     Thomp- 
son selected  a  vicious,  unbroken  horse  to  pack  the 
kegs  and  then  let  it  go  through  the  defiles  at  its 
own  gait.     The  horse  was  in  perfect  sympathy  with 
Thompson's  ideas  —  only  splinters  of  the  kegs  re- 
mained when  the  brigade  reached  the  trading  post 
—  and  Thompson  reported  that  he  felt  sure  the 
same  costly  accident  would  occur  if  another  un- 
wise attempt  were  made  to  transport  liquor  across 
the  mountains. 

Devoutly  religious,  Thompson  sought  the  spirit- 
ual welfare  of  the  voyageurs  and  coureurs-de-hoU 
who  traveled  with  him.  He  preached  the  moral 
life,  a  manhood  sprung  from  the  Godhead  and 
confident  in  its  source,  brotherly  ard  equiUble, 
finding  its  joys  not  in  excesses  of  the  senses  but  in 
self-mastery.  Seldom  passed  an  evening  in  camp 
that  Thompson  did  not  read  aloud  three  chapters 
from  the  Old  Testament  and  three  chapters  from 


I  ■', 


((     IP 


100  ADVENTUBEKS  OF  OREGON 

the  New,  and  then  expound  their  meaning  in 
"most  extraordinarily  pronounced  French."  By 
the  rushing  Saskatchewan,  among  the  snow  wastes 
of  Athabaska,  on  the  bleak  crags  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  this  prophet  in  buckskin,  like  Isaiah 
of  old,  called  to  a  primitive  people,  "  Make  straight 
in  the  wilderness  a  highway  for  our  God." 

While  Thompson  was  searching  for  the  source  of 
the  Columbia,  another  Nor'wester,  Simon  Fraser, 
also  exploring  beyond  the  mountains,  far  north  of 
the  Columbia,  discovered  the  Fraser  River  and 
followed  it  down  to  the  widening  of  its  mouth 
near  the  sea. 

The  journals  of  Fraser,  Mackenzie,  Thompson, 
and  the  elder  Henry,  like  those  of  Lewis  and  Clark, 
are  records  of  heroism  as  well  as  of  discovery;  and 
they  are  the  earliest  epics  of  the  Great  West.  The 
ideal  of  sheer  manhood  pitted  against  vast  and 
primal  Nature,  which  is  the  underlying  theme  of 
these  journals,  still  animates  the  literature  of  the 
West;  but  it  is  doubtful  if  any  of  the  later  writings 
present  that  ideal  more  faithfully  than  do  the 
journals  of  these  old  explorers.  Unconsciously, 
out  of  his  deep  sincerity,  Thompson  makes  himself 
known  to  us  as  the  Star-Man,  the  name  given  him 
by  some  of  the  tribes,  by  day  and  night  on  the 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER        101 
o'ains  and  the  mountains,  taking  observations  with 
his  primitiveinstruments,  so  that  by  the  fixed  law  of 
the  heavens  be  might  at  last  bring  the  whole  of  that 
vast  unknown  lai.d  into  the  clear  apprehension  and. 
so,  into  the  service  of  mankind.     No  finer  touch  of 
art  than  his  is  needed  to  picture  for  us  this  trader- 
astronomer  and  his  small  band  of  half  a  dozen 
men,  almost  out  of  food,  pressing  slowly  and  pain- 
fully through  the  dense  snows  of  Athabaska  Pass 
—  where  the  dogs  seemed  to  "swim  in  the  road 
beat  by  the  snowshoes,"  and,  so  high  lay  their 
route,  that  the  stars  looked  to  be  within  hands' 
reach  — while  somewhere  behind  them,  as  they 
knew,  in  close  pursuit  followed  a  warrior  band  of 
the  fierce  Piegans.    Nor  could  literary  imagination 
conceive  of  a  more  dramatic  escape  than  the  one 
he  narrates  without  comment.     The  Indians  came 
upon  his  trail  in  the  mountains,  and,  perceiving 
the  helpless  situation  of  their  quarry,  knowing  they 
had  but  to  advance  and  kill,  were  stopped  by 
the  sight  of  three  huge  bears  which  emerged  from 
the  rocks  and  stood  across  the  Star-Man's  tracks. 
There  the  Piegans  turned  back,  understanding  that 
the  Great  Spirit  had  sent  the  bears  to  protect  his 
son,  for,  as  they  said,  "we  all  believe  the  Great 
Spirit  speaks  to  you  in  the  night  when  you  at« 


I  '- 


lOS  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

looking  at  the  Moon  and  Stars  and  tells  you  of  what 
we  know  nothing."  One  line  from  Thompson's 
pen  lays  bare  the  explorer's  heart,  when,  following 
the  mystifying  bends  and  doublings  of  the  upper 
Columbia,  he  cried  out:  "God  give  rae  to  see 
where  its  waters  flow  into  the  ocean!" 

There  was  another  side  to  the  life  of  the  Nor'- 
westers.  Whatever  their  lot,  whether  in  fort  or 
afield  or  in  the  countinghouse  district  of  Montreal, 
they  took  life  gaily.  Their  Beaver  Club,  on  Beaver 
Hall  Hill  in  Montreal,  was  a  famous  place.  It  was 
an  exclusive  club.  No  partner  was  eligible  for 
membership  in  it  unless  he  had  spent  at  least  one 
winter  in  the  North.  Men  who  had  gone  hardily 
through  the  rough  life  of  a  winter  in  le  pays  d'En 
Haul  could  be  relied  upon  to  keep  the  Beaver  Club 
from  stagnating,  at  any  rate,  and  a  right  rollicking 
place  they  made  of  it,  from  all  accounts,  as  they 
met  o'nights  to  eat  and  drink,  to  toast  the  King 
and  each  other  and  all  the  lads  of  the  North 
conglomerateiy  and  severally. 

Spring  was  above  all  others  the  season  of  un- 
bounded joy,  for  in  spring  the  brigades  came  in 
with  their  furs.  Then  it  was  that  hilarity  broke 
away  from  the  confining  walls  of  the  Beaver  Club 
and  resounded  through  the  streets  and  taverns  of 


THE  REIGN  OP  THE  TRAPPER        lOS 

Montreal  and  along  the  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
On  these  nights,  as  April  glided  into  May,  fiddles 
screeched  and  voyageurg  and  trappers  jigged  and 
sang  by  the  gleaming  camp  firos  beside  the  river, 
while  some  of  their  comrades  sprawled  on  the 
ground  whiffing  the  beloved  "tabac";  and  betimes 
Indian  drums  sounded  under  the  scream  of  the 
fiddles  —  like  the  undertone  of  booming  surf  in  a 
shrill  wind  —  to  the  padding  of  the  feet  of  Indian 
trappers  in  the  wild  buffalo  and  wolf  dances. 

No  less  boisterous  would  be  the  scene  in  the 
candle-lighted  banquet  room  of  the  Beaver  Club, 
where  sat  lusty  Scots  wearing  gold-braided  uni- 
forms, eating  and  drinking  from  silver  salvers 
and  goblets,  all  engraved  with  the  Club's  crest  — 
a  beaver  —  and  the  motto.  Fortitude  in  Distress. 
While  from  the  river's  bank  rose  the  strains  of  the 
voyageur's  song  — 


'i>\\ 


"  Lui-ya  longtemps  que  je  t'aims. 
Jamais  je  ne  t'oMierai  — " 

or  the  roar  and  bellow  of  the  buffalo  cry  from  the 
trampling  Indian  dancers  whiriing  with  their  pine- 
knot  torches,  the  revelers  in  the  Beaver  Club 
poured  still  another  libation  to  the  lada  of  the 
North.    A  McTavish  or  a  McKay  danced  the 


101  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Highland  sword-dance,  to  the  plaudits  and  quaf- 
fings  about  the  board.  Fortitude  in  Distress !  On 
two  thousand  miles  of  peril  they  had  proved  again 
that  the  brigades  of  the  Nor'westcrs  were  manned 
by  the  swiftest,  the  hardiest,  and  the  boldest  men 
who  roamed  the  wilds.  At  length  came  the  con- 
eluding  ceremony,  a  tribute  to  the  voyageur.  The 
lordly  Nor'westers  and  their  guests  knelt  on  the 
floor  and,  with  tongs,  pokers,  canes,  or  whatever 
would  serve  their  purpose,  imitated  the  canoeman's 
swift,  rhythmic  strokes,  while  they  sang  in  rousing 
chorus  one  of  his  favorite  paddle-songs. 

When  by  ri'.  er,  lake,  and  portage  the  canoe  bri- 
gades arrived  early  in  summer  at  Fort  William'  on 
Lake  Superior,  even  wilder  scenes  were  enacted. 
The  Nor'westers  did  not  own  Montreal;  but  Fort 
William  was  theirs,  and  at  Fort  William  they  made 
such  laws  and  social  conventions  as  pleased  them. 
The  fort  held  a  huge  banquet  hall  where  two  hun- 
dred men  could  feast  at  their  ease.  Portraits  of 
the  King  and  of  Nelson  adorned  the  rough  walls. 
But  the  picture  most  contemplated,  no  doubt,  was 
the  large  map  of  the  fur  country  drawn  by  David 


■  Built  by  the  Nor'weaten  in  1803,  on  Britiih  toil,  forty  milet 
north  of  Grand  Portage,  their  former  Lake  Superior  headquarteri, 
after  some  unwelcome  visits  from  American  customs  officers. 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  105 
Thompson.  The  fare  on  the  rude  tables  was  not 
inferior  to  that  prepared  in  the  Beaver  Club,  for 
the  best  French  chefs,  at  lordly  hire,  had  been 
cajoled  to  endanger  their  art  and  their  lives  on 
rapids  and  whirlpools  in  order  to  cook  venison 
steaks  and  buffalo  tongues  to  a  king's  taste  in 
Fort  William.  To  a  Nor'wester's  nice  palate 
there  was,  it  seems,  nothing  incongruous  in  a 
buffalo's  tongue  served  up  in  one  of  those  seductive 
sauces  with  which  a  Pompadour  or  a  Montespan 
had  once  essayed  to  recapture  the  butterfly  heart 
of  her  monarch.  The  finest  of  wines  had  also  been 
carried  over  the  long  route  to  give  tang  to  the  wel- 
come home.  And,  when  the  last  drop  was  drained, 
the  casks  were  rolled  out  on  the  floor  and  such 
Nor'westers  as  could  still  keep  semblance  of  a 
balance  -vould  sit  astride  of  them  shouting  and 
singing.  Among  the  feasters  were  traders  from 
the  Far  North  —  some  of  whom  wintered  on  the 
Mackenzie  River.  Fort  William  was  all  that  these 
outlanders  ever  saw  of  civilization.  Here  for  a 
short  time  once  a  year  they  spoke  with  white  men, 
ate  and  drank  and  clasped  hands  with  their  kind. 

One  of  the  events  of  this  yearly  gathering  was 
the  buffalo  hunt.  It  was  not  only  for  pemmican 
and  dried  meat  that  the  trapper  hunted  the  buffalo. 


106  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

He  needed  the  skins  for  clothing  and  for  bedding, 
tor  the  making  of  his  tent  and  bull-boat  and  saddle. 
The  bone  was  put  to  various  uses,  supplement- 
ing the  trapper's  steel  weapons;  and  the  sinew 
sometimes  served  as  thread  or  cord. 

The  trappers  mounted  and  rode  westward  to 
their  favorite  hunting  grounds  in  the  country  of  the 
Mandans.  Between  the  Saskatchewan  and  the 
Missouri  lay  one  of  the  greatest  buffalo  ranges, 
where  these  animals  roamed  in  such  numbers  that 
often  a  single  herd  was  known  to  take  several  days 
to  pass  a  given  point;  and  the  plains  were  plowed 
deep  with  their  trails  leading  to  and  from  their 
drinking-places.  Sometimes  the  white  trappers 
followed  the  favorite  hunting  methods  of  the  Indian 
members  of  their  fraternity,  which  were  either  to 
drive  the  buffalo  over  a  cliff,  for  hunters  stationed 
below  to  make  an  end  of  by  rifle  or  bow  and  arrow, 
or  to  decoy  them  into  a  corral.  This  latter  was  ac- 
complished by  an  Indian  in  a  buffalo  robe,  skilled 
in  the  native  art  of  mimicry.  As  a  rule,  however, 
the  trappers  preferred  a  fair  field  and  no  favor. 
They  rode  down  on  the  herd,  singled  out  their 
quarry,  and  fired  the  first  shots  that  started  the 
stampede.  Then  not  only  the  hunter's  skillful  rid- 
ing and  his  accuracy  of  aim  but  the  intelligence 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER  I07 
and  speed  of  his  hone  were  required  to  keep  the 
battle  an  even  one.  For  a  stumble,  a  misstep,  an 
instant's  slowness  in  wheeling  and  dodging,  meant 
death  to  the  hunter  and  his  mount. 

After  the  hunt  and,  of  course,  the  feast  which 
celebrated  it  the  trappers  prepared  the  meat  and 
skins  for  winter  use.     All  must  now  be  made  ready 
for  the  time  when  they  should  set  forth  to  trap. 
Weapons   were  overhauled   by  the  smith.     The 
trapper's  garments  were  cut  and  fashioned  —  by 
his  Indian  wife,  probably,  for  the  gates  of  the  fort 
were  wide  open  to  the  tawny  belles  of  the  plains. 
Nothing  too  simple  in  style  was  considered  good 
sartorial  art.     The  trapper  must  have  his  mocca- 
sins plentifully  beaded  or  worked  with  brightly 
dyed  quills,  and  his  leggings  and  jacket  must  be 
fringed.     He  was  forced  to  go  without  the  little 
bells  or  jingling  bits  of  metal  in  which  the  canoe- 
man  rejoiced,  for  his  task  of  stalking  wild  animals 
necessitated  a  silent  wardrobe.     But  he  could  have 
a  bright  sash,  wonderful  gauntlets,  a  beaded  cap, 
as  well  as  a  fur  one  for  cold  weather,  fur  pouches 
for  powder  and  shot,  and  perhaps  a  beaded  bear's 
or  swan's  foot  pouch  for  his  tobacco.     With  these 
added  to  his  hunting  suit,  the  trapper  considered 
himself  appropriately  tailored.    Sometimes  a  cap 


108  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

mounted  with  horns  or  furry  ears  was  included  in 
the  trousseau  in  which  he  was  to  wed  the  white 
'  Solitude.  This  was  an  Indian  hunter's  device  for 
deceiving  wild  animals  where  the  man  must  cross 
open  snowy  spaces  to  get  within  range.  Other 
methods  also  the  trapper  practised  to  conceal  his 
presence  from  the  creatures  of  the  wilderness. 
When  he  set  his  traps,  he  trailed  the  hide  of  a 
freshly  killed  deer  over  his  tracks  to  obscure  the 
man-smell;  and  if  he  had  handled  his  traps  without 
deer  hide  on  his  hands,  he  smeared  them  with  an 
oily  substance  extracted  from  the  beaver,  which 
served  also  as  a  bait. 

It  might  be  that  the  gaily  fringed  and  hand- 
somely accoutered  trapper,  who  set  out  with  buoy- 
ant heart  as  the  snows  fell,  would  return  with  wealth 
in  his  pack.  It  might  be  that  he  would  never  re- 
turn. The  bait  in  his  traps  would  lure  other  beasts 
than  the  beaver  or  fox  or  mink  he  invited;  and,  to 
the  wolf-pack,  the  man-smell  caused  no  fear. 

While  the  Nor' westers  were  thus  spreading  the 
trapper's  kingdom  towards  the  northern  and  west- 
em  oceans,  the  traders  of  St.  Louis  were  not  letting 
the  time  pass  unimproved.  Lewis  and  Clark  had 
opened  the  way  for  them  to  expand  their  trade. 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER        lOO 

Not  idly  or  casually  had  Jefferson  instructed 
Lewis  to  form  trading  relations  with  the  Indians 
along  the  Missouri.  In  the  year  after  the  return 
of  the  great  expedition,  Manuel  Lisa,  a  Spanish 
trader,  formed  a  partnership  with  Drouillard,  who 
had  been  with  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  ascended  the 
Missouri  to  the  Yellowstone.  On  the  way  he  met 
the  lone  explorer  and  trapper,  John  Colter,  and 
easily  persuaded  him  to  turn  back.  Up  the  Yel- 
lowstone they  went,  into  the  country  of  the  war- 
like and  pilfering  Crows,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Big 
Horn.  Here  Lisa  built  a  fort  and  opened  trade. 
In  the  following  year  (1808)  the  Missouri  Fur  Com- 
pany was  organized  with  William  Clark  and  Lisa 
as  two  of  the  partners;  and  in  another  two  years 
the  company  had  built  trading  posts  in  the  Mandan 
towns  and  at  Three  Forks. 

Not  unhampered  did  the  Missouri  Fur  Com- 
pany's brigades,  led  by  Lisa  and  Drouillard,  pass 
upon  the  river  highway;  and  it  was  believed  by 
them  and  their  friends  that  the  Indians  who  fired 
volleys  at  their  pirogues  were  set  upon  them  by  the 
Nor'westers  to  discourage  the  invasion  of  what 
those  autocratic  fur  barons  considered  to  be  their 
territory.  Drouillard,  who  was  in  charge  of  the 
post  at  Three  Forks,  was  waylaid  and  killed  by 


■;<•: 


I  'r 


no  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

filackfeet  while  he  was  out  hunting  in  the  Jefferson 
Valley,  in  the  year  that  the  fort  was  built.  Colter 
was  captured  by  Indians  of  the  same  tribe.  His 
courageous  demeanor  so  impressed  the  Blackfeet 
that  they  gave  the  white  man  a  chance  for  his  life. 
Colter  was  stripped  even  to  his  moccasms,  led  out  a 
hundred  yards  or  so  on  to  the  plain  and  told  to  run. 
His  run  for  life  by  which  he  miraculously  escaped 
should  long  ago  have  inspired  some  maker  of  ballads. 
After  a  race  of  six  miles  over  the  plain,  which  was 
covered  with  prickly  pear,  he  cast  the  Indians  off 
his  trail  by  diving  under  a  raft  in  the  river  where  he 
hid  until  the  Blackfeet  gave  up  the  search.  Then  he 
swam  downstream,  landed,  and  traveled  for  seven 
days,naked.  without  weapons,  his  feet  full  of  thorns, 
until  he  reached  Lisa's  fort  on  the  Yellowstone. 

The  next  notable  figure  on  the  fur-trading  field 
was  John  Jacob  Astor  of  New  York.  Astor  was 
planning  a  vast  scheme  which  involved  the  estab- 
lishment of  trading  posts  on  the  Columbia,  a  chain 
of  posts  across  the  plains— in  fact,  the  control  of 
the  entire  fur  trade  of  the  continent.  He  was 
acquainted  with  the  Nor'westers,  having  bought 
furs  from  them  for  some  years  for  his  New  York 
trade,  and  was  anxious  for  them  to  join  him  in  his 
enterprise  on  the  Columbia  if  the  matter  could  be 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  TRAPPER        in 
arranged.    As  a  preliminary  step,  he  proposed  that 
he  and  they  should  buy  out  the  Mackinaws  and 
thus  remove  a  rival  from  the  trade  about  the  Lakes 
It  suited  the  Nor' westers  to  help  Astor  obliterate 
the  Mackinaws.  which  was  finally  done,  but  further 
than  that  his  plans  for  mastery  of  the  fur  trade  met 
with  no  sympathy  from  them.    In  particular  they 
disliked  his  views  with  regard  to  posts  on  the 
Pacific  Coast,  for  they  were  themselves  about  to 
petiUon  the  British  Government  for  a  charter  for 
a  monopoly  of  the  trade  west  and  immediately 
east'  of  the  Rockies;  and  it  had  been  with  this 
purpose  in  mind  that  they  had  sent  Thompson  and 
Fraser  on  their  journeys  of  exploration.    Now  ap- 
peared this  cloud.  Astor  the  American,  on  their 
bnght  horizon.    The  leading  partners  had  a  con- 
ference with  Thompson ':  and  although  there  seems 

J^fV^V  <l'»i»«l  by  the  Atl..b«k.  ,nd  M.cken.ie  riv« 
".y  Co«X       "  '  '''*^"  "■'"""'  -'  "»  «•"'-" 

-r^t^'i^?    .C'-Pf  y*  •»"t'«™">o.t  po,t  on  the  Ath.b„k. 

for  Montaed  ,a  .  l.ght  cnoe  with  five  „.„.•■  since  Thomp.„n 
w«  tr.vel.ng  l.ghl.  the  inference  i.  that  he  w«  .peeding  to  Mon" 

hZ  lh.?^T  *^u  rt '""  ""'"■'  '■y  "■•  '>"«•<'•  «tu™n. 
tiZ  ^V  T  w^,""'"*''  ■■•  "■'»'  ■"""  """'^  •■"  fi»«I  in.tru^ 
Uon.  .t  Fort  WUI..m  on  the  w.y  E«t  .nd  h.ve  gone  no  furth« 
Hu  lounuli  are  lUent  on  thij  point.  '"""ler. 


'     '11 


11«  ADVENTDRERS  OF  OREGON 

to  be  no  record  of  it,  there  is  little  doubt  that  he 
was  bidden  to  build  a  post  on  the  upper  Columbia 
and  to  lay  claim  to  the  territory  about  its  head- 
waters and  the  Snake,  and  thence  to  complete  his 
exploration  of  the  Columbia  to  its  mouth.  If  his 
orders  had  been  to  beat  Astor's  ship,  the  Tonguin, 
in  a  race  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  —  as  has  often 
been  stated  —  he  would  not  have  spent  the  spring 
of  1811  on  iU  upper  waters.  It  was  not  by  preced- 
ing Astor's  men  on  the  coast  but  by  the  charter 
they  hoped  to  receive  as  a  result  of  their  explora- 
tions that  the  Nor*  westers  expected  to  gain  Oregon, 
for  as  a  chartered  company  they  would  be  backed 
by  the  British  Government. 

Whether  John  Jacob  Astor  knew  the  plans  of 
the  Nor'westers,  even  as  they  knew  his,  is  conjec- 
tural. However  that  may  be,  he  proceeded  with 
his  own  enterprise.  His  first  contingent  would  sail 
in  the  ship  Tonguin  from  New  York  and  take  he 
sea  route  round  Cape  Horn  —  the  route  which 
Robert  Gray  had  sailed  twenty  years  before  —  to 
the  entrance  of  the  River  of  the  West.  And  a 
fleet  of  pirogues,  conveying  men  in  his  service, 
would  strike  from  St.  Louis  up  the  Missouri  to 
follow  the  trail  of  Lewis  and  Clark  into  Oregon. 


CHAPTER  IV 


Ml 


THE  TONQUIN 

If  in  these  dawning  hours  of  the  Great  West  the 
trapper  was  lord  of  the  land,  the  ruler  of  the  waters 
along  the  Northwest  Coast  was  the  Indian  hunter 
of  sea-otter  —  a  dark-skinned  Neptune  with  spear 
for  trident.  The  sea-otter  trade,  initiated  by  the 
Russians  and  advertised  by  Cook,  had  grown  largely 
since  the  adventures  of  John  Meares  and  Robert 
Gray.  And  it  was  almost  wholly  an  American 
trade.  By  1801  fifteen  American  vessels,  nearly  all 
from  Boston,  were  trading  with  the  natives  on  the 
Pacific;  and  in  that  year  fourteen  thousand  pelU 
were  shipped  and  sold  in  China  at  an  average  of 
thirty  dollars  apiece. 

So  it  was  that  in  the  year  1810  John  Jacob  Astor 
of  New  York  was  preparing  to  capture  the  trade 
of  the  Northwest  Coast,  and  the  Nor'westers  in 
Montreal  were  conferring  with  David  Thompson  to 
defeat  him.    That  Astor  had  in  mind  the  sea-otter 


I  '4\ 


114  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

trade  when  he  decided  to  send  a  ship  round  the 
Horn,  as  well  as  an  expedition  overland,  is  not 
to  be  doubted.  He  would  place  the  Tonquin  in 
the  sea-otter  trade  on  the  Coast  and  build  posts 
for  the  land  trade  in  beaver  on  the  Columbia  and 
at  suitable  points  across  the  continent.  Thus  he 
would  control  a  mighty  fur-trading  system  reach- 
ing from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  and 
on  to  China  and  India.  It  was  a  bold  plan  worthy 
of  the  genius  and  imagination  of  this  pioneer  of 
American  commerce. 

Meanwhile  a  similar  idea  had  entered  the  Rus- 
sian mind.  In  1806  the  Inspector  at  New  Arch- 
angel, Alaska,  had  urged  his  Government  to  found 
a  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  and  to 
build  a  battleship  for  the  purpose  of  driving  the 
American  traders  away.  His  enterprising  sugges- 
tion went  further.  He  pointed  out  that,  from  the 
settlement  on  the  Columbia,  the  Russians  could 
advance  southward  to  San  Francisco  and  "in  the 
course  of  ten  years  we  should  become  strong  enough 
to  make  use  of  any  favorable  turn  in  European 
politics  to  include  the  coast  of  California  in  the 
Russian  possession."  That  the  Russians  planned 
to  descend  upon  the  Columbia  in  1810,  a  Boston 
trader  named  Winship  learned  from  his  brother. 


THE  TONQUIN  ,jg 

d«..  trading  capuin:  and  he  made  haste  to  fore- 
.WI  them.     Early  i„  the  spring.  Winship  ran  his 
vessel  up  the  Columbia,  sowed  grain,  and  began 
buddmg  on  a  low  spit  which  he  named  Oak  Point 
Indian  hostility  compelled  him  to  abandon  the 
undertakmg.  and  he  departed  with  the  intent  to 
«tum  next  year  in  force  sufficient  to  cope  with 
the  savages.     Winship's   attempt  at  occupancy 
amounted  to  nothing  in  itself,  but  his  presence  on 
0.e  nver  that  year  caused  a  postponement  of  the 
Ru«,,ans  secret  design.    But  for  this  Boston  sea- 
man the  story  of  Old  Oregon  might  not  now  find 
place  m  the  history  of  the  United  States.     Two 

turn     as  the  forward-looking  Inspector  at  New 
Archangel  had  been  on  the  lookout  for.     While 

Tn'lf   .  ,  T  """'"^  '"■''•  ^"P"'"*"  ""d  Madison, 
and  while  Americans  were  intent  on  the  conquest 

ofCanada.an  expansive  Russiasoundly  established 
on  the  River  of  the  West,  with  armored  brigs  to 
chase  away  American  traders,  might  well  have  laid 
a  lockmg  grasp  upon  the  coast  from  Alaska  to  CaK- 
fomia^  Indeed,  the  War  of  1812  had  hardly  mon, 
Uian  begun  when  Russian  trade,,  stole  down  to 
Bodega.  California,  and.  with  the  permission  of 
the  Spanish  authorities,  erected  a  trading  post 


IM  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Thia  trading  post  they  subsequently  transfonned 
into  a  fort  from  which  they  refused  to  budge 
despite  the  indignant  cries  raised  by  Spain. 

The  belief  prevailed  among  American  traders 
that  alien  influences  were  at  work  among  the  sav- 
ages. In  1803  occurred  the  seizure  of  the  BotUm  and 
the  massacre  of  the  crew  at  Nootka  by  Maquinna's 
tribe.  And  in  1805  the  savages  attacked  another 
Boston  ship  trading  in  Millbank  Soimd  and  mur- 
dered the  captain  and  a  number  of  the  crew.  Rus- 
sian vessels  were  at  this  time  cruising  south- 
ward and  were  in  the  habit  of  calling  at  Ni>otka 
and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  No  proof 
was  advanced,  however,  of  Russian  complicity  in 
these  attacks. 

It  was  plain  that  the  time  had  come  for  a  fort 
to  be  erected  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  —  the 
time  for  occupation  to  attest  ownership.  On  that 
subject,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Russians,  the  Cana- 
dian Nor'westers,  and  the  American  Astor  were 
all  agreed.  The  question  was,  whioh  of  Ihe  ikree 
should  build  thefortf 


Of  John  Jacob  Aster's  early  life  not  a  great  deal 
is  known.  He  was  bom  of  poor  parents  in  1763  at 
Waldorf,  a  village  near  Heidelberg;  in  (rermany. 


m 


htk 


no  ^DVF.NTIFERS  OP  OREGON 

This  traitin);  |H»t  thrv  subsequfr-iiily  tranaformwl 
into  :i  fort  from  wliuh  they  ;tfu»Mj  to  budge 
dospite  flio  indignant  rrics  raiM-d  hy  Spnin. 

The  belii'f  prevailed  union);  American  traders 
that  alien  inttiiciice*  Were  at  work  among  the  sav- 
agi-s.  In  IHOS  crtfurred  the  wizur'  of  tii.-  Potttin  und 
i\w  ni'is.-^.(rr<-  of  liit-  cr-w  st  N'nolkii  iiy  Mnqiiintia's 
tribo  .Vn.i  in  1S04  ih»-  *avHgrK  attacked  another 
Boston  •''.iti  tiailinfj  a  MiilliitJik  Sound  and  mur- 
dertd  the  cipt.im  anti  n  nninl>cr  of  the  rrfw.     Rus 

and  iit  t!)e  mo-ith  of  uS"  Columbia.  No  prtKif 
we*  mlvaiiCpd,  liowfv^r,  of  Rii!«siaii  complicity  in 
these  att;U'k<. 

It  was  p!;uii  that  the  tii.Jt-  tiad  come  for  «  fort 
to  he  erected  at  tlie  mouth  of  tiio  Columbia  -  the 
time  for  ocfupHlion  lo  attest  owijcrship.  On  that 
subject,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Rusaians.  the  Cana- 
dian Nor' westers,  and  the  Ameritan  Astor  were 
all  agreed.  Tiie  question  was.  uhkk  of  the  three 
should  build  the  fori? 


Of  Jc'^n  Jacob  Astor' s  early  life  not  a  great  deal 
is  known.  Hi',  waa  horn  of  (loor  parents  in  17C3  at 
Waldorf,  a  village  near  Ileidcib-.-rg  in  Germany. 


THE  TONQUIN  in 

At  fixteen  he  worked  in  a  butcher's  ihop  belonging 
to  his  father.  Then  he  ran  off  to  London.  There, 
four  years  later,  he  learned  that  a  brother  had  gone 
to  America;  and  this  news,  coupled  with  his  vision 
of  money  to  be  made  in  America,  prompted  him  to 
try  his  fortune  iu  the  New  World.  It  would  seem 
that  his  thrift  and  his  business  acumen  had  already 
achieved  results,  for  the  young  man  who  had  arrived 
in  London  a  penniless  lad  left  for  America  on  a 
ship  sailing  for  Baltimore  with  a  small  collection 
of  goods  for  trade.  He  reached  New  York  some 
time  in  1784.  Here,  following  the  advice  of  a  fur- 
rier he  had  met  in  Baltimore,  he  exchanged  his 
merchandise  for  furs  and  returned  in  the  same  year 
to  London,  where  he  disposed  of  his  peltry  at  a 
good  profit.  He  had  found  the  right  road  to 
fortune.  Ten  years  later  he  had  esUblished  a 
profitable  business  and  was  purchasing  furs  in 
large  quantities  from  the  North-West  Company  of 
Montreal  for  shipment  to  Europe  and  China. 

In  1808  Astor  incorporated  by  charter  from  the 
State  of  New  York  the  American  Fur  Company, 
with  a  capital  of  one  million  dollars  supplied  by 
himself.  Soon  afterwards  he  combined  with  the 
Nor'westers,  as  we  have  seen,  to  buy  out  the 
Mackinaws,  ^ose  American  trade  was  turned  over 


118  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

to  him  with  the  proviso  that  he  should  not  trade  in 
Great  Britain  or  her  colonies.    Astor's  magnificent 
plan  was  taking  shape.     His  acquisition  of  the 
trading  posts  of  the  Mackinaws  in  Wisconsin  was 
the  first  link  forged  in  the  great  chain  which  he  in- 
tended to  stretch  across  the  continent  and  which 
should  bind  under  his  control  the  whole  fur  trade 
of  the  United  States.     However  little  he  knew  of 
the  Nor'westers'  ulterior  plans,  he  saw  that  they 
were  spreading  overland  towards  the  Pacific;  and, 
wishing  to  eliminate  them  as  rivals,  he  proposed 
that  they  should  join  with  him  in  the  Columbia 
trade  and  offered  them  an  interest  of  one-third. 
He  was  also  planning  to  conciliate  the  Russians  and 
to  gain  control  of  the  Pacific  coast  trade  to  China. 
Probably  he  saw,  in  his  invitation  to  the  Nor'- 
westers, the  first  step  towards  control  of  their 
Canadian  and  British  trade,  also,  and  so,  towards 
ultimate  mastery  of  the  whole  traffic  of  North 
America  in  pelts.     And  probably  the  Nor'westers 
saw  what  Astor  saw,  namely,  the  final  elimination 
of  themselves,  even  as  by  a  coalition  they  had 
helped  him  to  eliminate  the  Mackinaws,  for  they 
refused  his  offer  and  made  swift  plans  for  a  descent 
upon  the  Columbia. 
Astor  took  up  the  gage  of  battle  and  went  on 


THE  TONQUIN  119 

with  the  organization  of  his  Pacific  Fur  Company 
for  trade  on  the  Pacific  Coast.     He  believea  t  at 
he  would  conquer  his  rivals  and  finaUy  drive  them 
from  the  new  field  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  Nor'westers  had  no  sea-going  ships.     Their 
furs  must  reach  Montreal  from  the  West  through 
Fort  William  by  a  long  and  perilous  inland  route; 
therefore,  the  farther  v.estward  they  pushed  their 
activiUes,  the  greater  became  their  difficulties  and 
their  expenses  in  bringing  their  furs  to  market. 
On  the  other  hand.  Astor  would  have  not  only  his 
cross-country  cb.  in  of  forts  from  St.  Louis  on  the 
south  and  the  Great  Lakes  on  the  north  to  the 
Columbia,  but  his  sea-going  Tonquin  and  in  time 
other  vessels  as  required.     By  sea,  he  would  ship 
supplies  to  the  forts  on  the  Columbia,  and  from 
headquarters  at  the  mouth  of  that  river  he  would 
ship  the  furs  to  Canton,  while  his  trading  posts 
to  be  built  along  the  Missouri  would  be  suppUed 
by  pirogues  from  St.  Louis  and  would,  in  turn,  send 
their  furs  by  the  same  means  to  that  city. 

Astor  knew  what  was  the  chief  factor  in  the 
spectacular  rise  of  the  North-West  Company  — 
its  men.  And  he  realized  that,  if  his  superior 
advantages  in  other  respects  were  to  count  at 
their  full  value  in  the  batUe  before  him,  he  too 


m 


h  \i 


•  ii ' 


\-:i 


120 


ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 


\l 


muB*.  have  men  of  the  same  stamina  and  experience. 
Where  should  he  look  for  them?  In  the  North- 
West  Company  itself,  of  course,  for  the  Nor'- 
westers  had  no  peers.  He  therefore  opened  the  war 
by  detaching  from  the  Nor' westers  several  of  their 
"winterers"  and  clerks.  He  enticed  to  join  him, 
among  others,  Alexander  Mackay,  the  great  Mac- 
kenzie's companion  in  exploration,  David  Stuart  of 
Labrador,  and  his  nephew  Robert  Stuart,  Duncan 
McDougal,  and  some  clerks  from  Montreal,  includ- 
ing Ross  and  Franch^re,  the  authors  of  the  diaries 
which  are  our  chief  sources  of  information  con- 
cerning the  enterprise.  But  Astor  needed  more 
than  partners  and  clerks:  he  needed  also  some  of 
those  French-Canadian  voyageurt  who  served  with 
paddle  and  pole  in  the  Nor' westers'  canoe  brigades 
between  Montreal  and  Fort  William.  He  enlisted 
into  his  service  a  number  of  these,  and  they  came 
in  a  body  with  their  canoes  down  the  Hudson  to 
New  York. 

Having  recruited  his  men,  Astor  proceeded  to 
carry  out  the  first  part  of  his  plan,  which  involved 
making  ready  for  sea  his  ship,  the  Tonquin,  and 
sending  it  round  the  Horn  to  the  Columbia,  with 
several  of  his  new  partners  and  servants  aboard. 
On  the  Columbia  they  would  choose  a  suitable 


THE  TONQUIN  m 

site  and  erect  a  fort,  which  McDougal  would  com- 
mand, while  the  Tonquin  under  Captain  Thorn 
would  ply  along  the  coast  for  trade. 

The  Tonquin  was  a  vessel  of  some  290  tons, 
mounting  ten  guns  and  carrying  a  crew  of  about 
twenty-one  men.  Her  captain,  Jonathan  Thorn, 
was  a  naval  o£Bcer  on  leave  of  absence.  He  wau 
a  man  of  rigid  determination,  a  believer  in  iron  dis- 
cipline, and  easily  moved  to  wrath  by  the  smallest 
infringement  of  the  hide-bound  rules  and  proprieties 
of  his  code;  a  faithful,  loyal  man,  but  without  the 
least  understanding  of  human  nature,  and  too 
lacking  in  imagination  to  have  any  sympathy 
or  good  feeling  towards  persons  who  were  differ- 
ent frum  himself  and  whose  characters,  therefore, 
could  not  commend  themselves  to  him.  Thorn 
took  his  responsibility  towards  Astor  very  seri- 
ously. Doubtless  he  was  prepared  to  die  bravely 
and,  if  need  be,  go  down  with  his  ship  in  his  em- 
ployer's interest  and  for  the  honor  of  his  flag.  But 
what  his  employer's  interests  required  of  the  skip- 
per of  the  Tonquin  was  most  of  all  humor  and  tact 
in  dealing  with  the  passengers.  And  neither  hu- 
mor nor  tact  was  at  all  mentioned  in  any  seaman's 
manual  ever  perused  by  Captain  Jonathan  Thorn. 
He  took  one  look  at  the  "winterers"  and  their 


•t   '!l 


-'  m 


iH-:^ 


122  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

toyageurs  and  despised  them  on  sight  for  a  shabby, 
roistering  set  of  braggarts.  He  saw  the  partners  sit- 
ting among  the  canoemen  —  no  naval  commander 
ever  sat  thus  with  deck-swabbers!  —  smoking  with 
them,  passing  the  pipe  from  mouth  to  mouth  in 
Indian  fashion  (a  custom  which  affronted  his  sani- 
tary soul)  and  roaring  with  them  in  chorus  the  in- 
numerable verses  of  ^  ia  claire  foniaine,  or  M<d- 
brouck.  And  he  immediately  wrote  to  Astor,  in 
effect  urging  him  io  get  rid  of  these  noisy,  useless 
knaves,  who  would  do  his  project  no  good,  besides 
being  an  offense  to  the  eyes  of  a  tidy  man.  When, 
at  the  first  roll  of  the  sea,  partners,  clerks,  and 
voyageurs  were  overcome  by  seasickness,  Thorn 
knew  for  certain  that  not  one  of  them  had  ever 
done  a  man's  job  in  his  life.  They  were  falsifiers 
and  fabricators.  They  had  never  seen  the  fur 
country  where  they  claimed  to  have  experienced 
wild  adventures;  they  had  gone  no  farther  into  the 
wilderness  than  the  waterfront  of  Montreal;  they 
were  waiters,  barbers,  draymen,  and  scallywags. 
He  doubted  much  if  any  one  of  the  voyageurs  had 
ever  dipped  a  paddle.  In  Thorn's  experience,  men 
who  were  accustomed  to  water  did  not  get  seasick. 
Yes,  he  had  them  there;  it  took  a  sailor  to  find  these 
rogues  out. 


THE  TONQUm  iss 

And  what  was  the  opinion  of  Thorn  current 
among  the  ex-Nor'westers  and  their  crew  of  pad- 
dlemen?   We  may  readily  imagine  how  the  stiff  and 
truculent  naval  dictator,  with  his  set  of  rules,  ap- 
peared to  "Labrador"  Stuart  and  to  Mackay  of 
Athabasca  —  Mackay,  who  had  made  those  mi- 
raculous journeys  with  Mackenzie  —  men  whose 
swift  initiative  had,  time  and  time  again,  saved 
themselves  and  their  comrades  from  sudden  peril 
in  the  wilds.     The  voyageurs  probably  wondered  by 
what  right  Thorn  gave  himself  such  airs,  since  all 
he  had  to  do  was  to  stand  on  the  deck  of  a  large 
stoutly  made  boat  while  the  winds  took  it  over  the 
waves  of  broad  open  water  without  ai  obstruction. 
Put  him  in  a  frail  bark  canoe  and  let  him  run 
the  boiling  rapids,  with  great  rocks,  gnashing  like 
the  teeth  of  a  devouring  monster,  to  grind  him  to 
splinters.     Would  he,  by  a  deft  paddle-stroke,  or  a 
thrust  of  the  pole,  whirl  his  craft  aside  and  send  it 
flying  past  those  jaws,  like  a  feather  on  the  spume? 
"Crayez!  Moi,  j'nT  crais  past" 

Into,  this  mutual  non-admiration  society  Astor 
sent  farewell  letters  filled  with  wise  advice.  The 
partners  were  assured  that  Captain  Thorn  was  a 
strict  disciplinarian,  a  severe  man,  whose  favor  they 
should  cultivate  by  very  circumspect  behavior;  and 


i 


m 


4 


IM  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Thorn  was  advised  to  prevent  misunderstaadings 
and  to  inspire  the  passengers  with  a  spirit  of  good 
humor  at  all  times.  Here  then  was  a  setting  and 
a  cast  prepared  for  either  an  excellent  comedy 
or  a  bitter  tragedy,  according  as  circumstances 
should  direct. 

On  September  8,  1810,  the  Tonquin  was  on  her 
way  out  of  the  harbor  of  New  York.  That  she 
was  convoyed  by  the  ConstittiHon  brings  to  mind 
certain  facts  and  assumptions  which  have  an  ob- 
lique bearing  on  the  subsequent  history  of  Astor's 
enterprise.  While  the  American  Government  did 
not  take  any  part  in  Astor's  venture,  its  attitude 
was  sympathetic.  It  may  be  said  that  he  had  the 
Government's  moral  support  in  his  large  schemes 
for  cornering  the  fur  trade.  And  he  had  been 
readily  granted  an  armed  convoy  to  guard  the  Ton- 
quin beyond  the  point  where,  it  was  rumored,  a 
British  man-of-war  waited  its  chance  to  stop  As- 
tor's vessel  and  impress  the  Canadians  aboard  of 
her.  The  presence  of  the  British  vessel  was  sup- 
posed to  be  due  to  the  machinations  of  the  North- 
West  Company.  But  that  supposition  hardly 
shows  agreement  in  motive  with  another  assump- 
tion, namely,  that  some  of  the  ex-Nor'westers  on 
board  the  Tonquin,  McDougal  in  particular,  were 


THE  TONQUIN  lit 

(till  more  loyal  to  their  old  company  than  to  Astor. 
To  be  impressed  into  the  British  Navy  would  have 
prevented  the  opportunity  they  might  have  later 
to  play  the  game  on  the  coast  in  the  interests  of 
their  Montreal  friends.  Some  of  them  had  already 
related  Astor's  plans  to  the  British  consul  in  New 
York;  and  all  of  them  had  deceived  Astor  in  the 
matter  of  the  American  naturalization  on  which 
he  had  insisted.  The  British  man-of-war  is  suffi- 
ciently accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  England,  in 
the  midst  of  the  colossal  struggle  with  Napoleon, 
needed  seamen  and  was  not  over  particular  how 
she  got  them. 

All  lights  out  and  under  convoy,  the  Tonquin 
slipped  by  safely  and  headed  south. 

The  salt  air  gave  the  passengers  lively  appetites. 
They  demanded  food  at  all  hours  and  cursed  the 
sea-biscuit  that  mocked  palates  yearning  for  veni- 
son steaks.  Thorn's  disgust  increased  daily.  He 
viewed  with  contempt  the  various  clerks  who  sat 
on  deck  scribbling  down  in  their  journals  every- 
thing new  to  them  that  passed  upon  wave  or  sky. 
Did  the  ship  sail  by  an  island  that  looked  inviting? 
At  once  there  was  a  clamor  to  land  and  explore. 
There  was  almost  a  riot  on  board  because  Thorn 
refused  to  let  his  passengers  off  on  the  coast  of 


m 


1«8  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Patagonia  where,  so  they  had  heard,  the  natives 
were  of  huge  size  and  strangely  made. 

Occasionally  it  was  necessary  to  make  port  be- 
cause the  supply  of  fresh  water  was  low.  The  pas- 
sengers would  seize  these  opportunities  to  make 
explorations  and  to  hunt  penguins,  sea-lions,  or 
whatever  game  the  coast  afforded.  And,  paying 
no  attention  to  the  ship's  signals  to  them  to  return, 
they  would  continue  their  amusement  imtil  it 
palled.  The  second  or  third  time  that  delay  oc- 
curred on  their  account  — •  the  ship  was  then  at  the 
Falkland  Islands,  in  December  —  Thorn  in  a  rage 
put  to  sea  without  them.  Fortunately  for  the  ex- 
cursionists, the  younger  Stuart  had  remained  on 
board.  When  Thorn  refused  to  heave  to  anr  wait 
for  the  eight  men  who  were  desperately  tugging 
after  the  Ton^uin  in  the  ship's  boat,  young  Stuart 
drew  his  pistol  and  threatened  to  shoot  the  captain 
through  the  head  unless  he  shortened  sail  and  let 
the  boat  come  up.  A  shift  of  the  wind  rather  than 
Stuart's  pistol  slowed  the  Tonquin's  pace  and  the 
indignant  sightseers  were  presently  safe  on  board. 
In  Thorn's  account  of  the  matter  to  his  employer, 
he  deplores  the  shift  of  wind  and  asserts  that  it 
would  have  been  to  Aster's  advantage  if  the  men 
had  been  left  behind.    It  is  probable  that  this 


THE  TONQUIN  iflT 

incident  did  little  to  improve  the  relations  between 
the  captain  and  the  partners,  for  discord  continued 
uninterruptedly  throughout  the  voyage,  waxing 
fierce  off  Robinson  Crusoe's  island  in  the  Pacific, 
where  the  passengers  wished  to  collect  souvenirs. 

On  the  25th  of  December  the  Tonquin  rounded 
Cape  Horn  and  on  the  12th  of  February  put  in  at 
Hawaii  and  anchored  in  the  bay  of  Karakakooa. 
Astor  had  given  instructions  as  to  the  treatment 
of  the  natives  of  Hawaii,  because  he  intended  to 
establish  trade  with  them.  The  ex-Nor'westers 
were  thoroughly  at  home  when  it  came  to  making 
the  right  impression  on  the  Hawaiians.  They  had 
had  experience  in  making  friends  with  savages 
and  knew  that  visits  and  councils  and  gifts,  with- 
out haste,  were  the  proper  means.  Thorn  was  in- 
terested only  in  securing  a  supply  of  hogs  and  fresh 
water  for  the  ship,  and  he  saw  nothing  but  childish 
dilly-dallying  in  the  conduct  of  his  passengers  with 
the  natives.  "  Frantic  gambols,"  Thorn  called  the 
whole  procedure. 

The  partners  had  distributed  firearms  to  their 
men,  while  at  Hawaii,  so  that  no  possible  act  of 
treachery  on  the  part  of  the  natives  should  catch 
them  unprotected.  But  Thorn  suspected  them  of 
plotting  to  seize  the  ship.    He  had  visions  of  a 


.:i^ 

m 


1«8  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 
bloody  mutiny  in  which  he  would  be  deposed,  per- 
haps murdered,  and  A»tor'»  enterprise  would  be 
ruined.  He  must  have  made  his  suspicion  known, 
for  the  partners  were  soon  playing  upon  it.  They 
would  make  furtive  signs,  cease  speaking  English 
and  converse  in  Gaelic,  whenever  Thorn  came 
by.  He  wrote  to  Astor  warning  him  about  these 
"mysterious  and  unwarranted"  conversations. 

On  March  22. 1811,  the  Tonquin  stood  off  Cape 
Disappointment. 

There  was  a  high  wind  and  a  rough  sea.  On 
the  hidden  sand  bars  stretching  almost  across  the 
entrance  to  the  bay,  the  surf  pounded  and  roared 
and  leaped  like  Niagara.  The  ship  hove  to  about 
three  leagues  from  shore;  and  the  Captain  ordered 
Fox,  the  mate,  with  another  sailor  and  three  voya- 
geurt,  to  take  out  the  whaleboat  and  seek  the  chan- 
nel. Fox  begged  for  seamen  to  man  the  boat;  but 
Thorn  insisted  that  they  could  not  be  spared  from 
their  tasks  on  the  ship.  In  desperation  Fox  ap- 
pealed to  the  partners.  They,  in  turn,  argued  with 
Thorn.  The  dangers  were  apparent.  The  whale- 
boat  was  a  small  ramshackle  affair  not  fit  to  dare 
such  a  sea  as  now  raced  over  the  bar ;  the  voyageurs 
were  skilled  in  their  special  work  as  eanoemen, 
but  they  had  no  knowledge  of  the  sea.    Fox  was 


THE  TONQUIN  Mt 

unfortunate  in  his  emissaries.  They  merely  stiff- 
ened the  Captain's  back.  To  Thorn,  these  were  the 
men  who  had  held  his  ship  up  while  they  hunted 
penguins,  who  had  baited  him  in  Gaelic  and  mocked 
his  dignity  with  too  much  singing.  Now  they  were 
trying  to  interfere  with  his  management  of  his  ship, 
were  they? 

At  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  whaleboat 
left  the  ship.  Those  on  deck  watched  it  until  it 
was  hidden  by  the  caUracts  of  surf.  All  the  after- 
noon they  waited  for  the  boat's  return  with  news 
of  the  channel.  They  waited  through  the  night. 
Morning  broke.  The  wind  had  slackened;  the 
sea  was  calmer.  The  Tonquin  sailed  in  nearer  to 
shore.  All  that  day  the  watchers  on  deck  looked 
out  hoping  to  descry  the  whaleboat  emerging 
through  the  high  roaring  surf  between  the  capes; 
and  all  day  they  saw  nothing  but  the  white  hounds 
of  the  sea  rushing  at  full  cry  across  the  bar.  Dark- 
ness fell,  and  the  ship  moved  out  to  safer  water. 

Next  morning  the  Tonquin  cast  anchor  near  to 
the  Cape.  The  pinnace  was  manned  and  lowered 
—  Thorn  could  spare  seamen  today  —  and  "Lab- 
rador" Stuart  and  Alexander  Mackay  went  with 
the  crew.  The  surf  forced  a  retreat  and  Stuart  and 
Mackay  returned  to  the  ship.    Then  Thorn  headed 


ISO  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

the  Tortquin  towards  the  entrance,  but  he  dared 
not  attempt  to  find  the  channel  through  the  piling 
breakers.  Once  again  the  pinnace  was  lowered, 
again  to  be  driven  back.  Thorn  sent  it  out  a  third 
time  with  orders  to  sound  ahead  while  the  ship  fol- 
lowed. Aiken,  the  seaman  in  charge  of  the  pin- 
nace, having  found  the  channel,  attempted  to  re- 
turn to  the  ship  at  a  signal  from  Thorn.  The  boat 
was  near  enough  to  the  Tonquin  for  those  on  board 
to  hear  the  cries  for  help  that  rose  as  the  waves 
suddenly  swirled  the  little  craft  about  and  swept  it 
away  towards  the  bar.  Dusk  was  falling,  and  pres- 
ently the  pinnace  was  lost  to  view.  The  Tonquin, 
still  heading  in,  was  in  a  perilous  way.  She  was 
striking  frequently  in  the  narrow  channel  and  the 
breakers  washed  over  her.  At  length  the  tide  rose 
and  the  flow  carried  her  in  beyond  the  cape.  She 
dropped  anchor  in  the  bay. 

In  the  morning,  search  parties  were  sent  out 
along  the  beach.  Presently  the  party  headed  by 
Thorn  came  upon  Weekes,  one  of  the  men  who  had 
been  in  the  pinnace.  His  boat  had  been  swamped. 
He  and  a  Sandwich  Islander,  one  of  the  crew,  had 
reached  land.  Another  Sandwich  Islander's  body 
was  washed  ashore  during  the  day.  No  trace  was 
to  be  found  of  the  other  white  men  who  had  been 


THE  TONQUIN  m 

in  the  pinnace,  nor  of  the  whaleboat  and  it«  crew. 

The  Tonguin  had  first  anchored  off  Cape  Dis- 
appointment on  the  28d  of  March.  Three  dayi 
and  nights  had  passed  before  those  now  aboard 
of  her  had  looked  over  the  safe  waters  of  Bak- 
er'a Bay  behind  the  promontory.  A.iJ  tight  men 
had  perished. 

There  were  clerks  on  board  the  7  ;„/„/„  ;.r  Jtliey 
set  down  in  their  diaries,  in  detnii  v,  ry  ti;cid(  •  i  <A 
those  seventy-two  hours  of  terror.  { iipv  v  r  jfe  ..' 
the  aspect  of  the  coast,  of  tin;  souni'  a,.-!  fearful 
appearance  of  the  breakers  running  i  lount  .in  Ip.iH, 
of  the  sunken  bars  that  wreck  ships  Ain)  alter 
them  came  Washington  Irving,  man  of  letters. 
Irving  read  their  journals  and  Ulked  with  other 
sailors  who  had  adventured  through  the  perils  of 
that  place;  and  he  pictured  faithfully,  albeit  dis- 
cursively in  the  literary  fashion  of  his  day,  the  dan- 
ger and  the  terror  which  Nature  had  set  to  guard 
the  entrance  to  the  River  of  the  West.  But  our 
minds  go  back  to  the  log-book  of  the  discoverer  of 
that  river.  And  we  begin  to  see  the  nature  of  the 
feat  Bobert  Gray  was  recording  when  he  jotted 
down  those  few  terse  sentences: 

Being  within  six  miles  of  the  land,  saw  an  entrance 
in  the  same.  ...     At  half  past  three  bore  away  and 


;* 


18f 


ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 


ran  in  northeast  by  east,  having  from  four  to  eight 
fathoms,  sandy  bottom;  and,  as  we  drew  in  nearer 
between  the  bars,  had  from  ten  to  thirtAn  fathoms, 
having  a  very  strong  tide  of  ebb  to  stem.  ...  At 
five  P.u.  came  to  ...  in  a  safe  harbor. 


No;  Robert  Gray  was  not  a  writer.     But  he  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  seaman. 

Now  began  a  series  of  squabbles  between  Thorn 
and  the  partners  concerning  a  site  for  the  fort. 
Thorn  was  for  rigging  up  a  shelter  on  the  bay  shore. 
There  he  could  deposit  the  stores  and  goods  for  the 
trading  post  at  once,  and  then  be  off  up  the  coast 
for  sea  otter.  McDougal  and  the  others,  experi- 
enced in  such  matters,  insisted  on  seeking  a  site  up 
the  river  where  situation  would  offer  some  points 
of  natural  defense.  The  site  sek-c "  ed  by  McDougal 
was  on  Point  George  about  twelve  miles  up  the 
stream.  Here  was  a  sheltered  harbor  where  small 
vessels  could  anchor  within  fifty  yards  of  the  beach. 
The  Tonquin  rode  at  anchor  off  the  point,  and  the 
Captain  fumed  as  days  and  weeks  flitted  by  while 
the  partners  directed  the  building  of  the  fort,  with 
its  living  quarters,  storehouse,  and  powder  maga- 
zine, or  knocked  off  work  to  hold  council  with 
inquisitive  swarms  of  Indians  led  by  their  chief,  old 
Comcomly,  the  one-eyed.    Since  the  one  gentleman 


THE  TONQUIN  ijg 

W.1  on  ihip  and  the  oUier  on  shore.  Thorn  and 
McDougal  could  no  longer  match  each  other  in 
spoken  invective.     So  they  sent  splenetic  epistle, 
back  and  forth  across  the  little  stretch  of  water 
By  the  end  of  May,  however,  the  fort  was  com- 
pleted.    It  was  built  of  bark-covered  logs  and  was 
enclosed  in  a  stockade  of  log  palings  and  mounted 
with  guns  after  the  model  of  the  fur-trading  forts  in 
the  North.     In  honor  of  John  Jacob  Astor  it  wa. 
named  Astoria.     On  the  1st  of  June,  the  Tonquin 
with  Alexander  Mackay  and  a  clerk  nanjed  Lewi* 
aboard,  took  sail.     A  strong  wind  held  her  back 
within  the  bay  for  four  days,  but  on  the  fifth  she 
crossed  the  bar  and  turned  northward  towards 
Vancouver  Island. 


While  the  Tonquin  was  moving  on  her  way  and 
the  men  at  Astoria  were  busy  with  their  final 
touches  to  the  fort  and  in  planting  various  grain 
and  vegeUble  seeds  which  they  had  brought  with 
them,  another  fort  was  in  building  far  up  on  the 
north  branch  of  the  Columbia  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Spokane.  The  man  who  was  building  that  fort 
was  David  Thompson,  the  Nor'wester. 

In  the  autumn   of  the  previous  year   (1810) 
Thompson  had  set  out  from  Fort  William  to  make 


'i  I 


1S4 


ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 


his  way  to  the  Columbia.  The  natural  route  fw 
him  lay  through  the  Rockies  from  the  North  Sas- 
katchewan. But  this  pass  was  closed  to  him  by 
the  Piegans.  He  had  been  obliged,  therefore,  to 
ascend  the  Athabaska  and  to  cross  the  mountains 
through  the  thick  snows  of  Athabaska  Pass.  The 
crossing  occupied  weeks.  It  was  nearly  the  end 
of  January  when  Thompson  and  his  men  reached 
the  Columbia  near  the  mouth  of  the  Canoe  River. 
There  they  camped  until  spring. 

In  June  Thompson  was  building  his  fort  on  the 
Spokane;  and  Indians  were  passing  the  news  from 
village  to  village  down  the  Columbia,  till  presently 
this  spicy  bit  of  wilderness  gossip  was  retailed  to 
the  citizens  of  Astoria.  The  Astorians  supposed 
that  the  men  of  whom  they  heard  these  tidings  were 
Astor's  Overlanders.  But,  one  day  in  the  middle 
of  July,  a  canoe  swept  down  towards  the  fort,  with 
the  British  flag  flying.  McDougal  and  the  Stuarts, 
who  had  rushed  to  the  shore  to  welcome  Astor's 
Overlanders,  greeted  instead  the  old  crony  of  their 
grand  battle  days  in  Canada.  Thompson  was 
tossed  from  one  rough  embrace  to  another,  then 
carried  into  the  fort  and,  with  his  party  of  eight 
men,  treated  to  the  best  that  Astoria  afforded.  In 
consideration  of  Thompson's  errand  it  has  beoi 


THE  TONQUIN  isa 

customary  to  censure  McDougaL  and  the  other 
partners  for  their  reception  of  him;  but  on  reflec- 
tion it  seems  easy  to  take  a  more  human  view  of 
Uie  matter.     It  would  require  more  than  business 
nvalry  or  business  loyalty  to  make  such  men  forget 
what  their  long  comradeship  in  the  wilderness  had 
meant  to  them  in  times  when  each  had  proved  his 
claim  to  that  "Fortitude  in  Distress,"  which  had 
welded  the  Nor'westers  into  a  clan,  hardy  and 
proud.     Then,  too.  Thompson  with  his  record  of 
skill  and  success  under  enormous  difficulties  must 
have  been  a  welcome  relief  to  McDougal  and 
the  Stuarts  after  their  long  session  with  Jonathan 
Thorn,  whose  stupidity  and  obstinacy  had  sent 
eight  lives  into  eclipse  before  ever  a  log  of  Astor's 
fort  was  laid  in  place.     When  Thompson  ascended 
the  river—  which,  now.  he  had  explored  from  its 
source  to  its  mouth  —  he  was  well  provided  with 
food  and  other  necessaries.     David  Stuart,  with 
several  clerks  and  voyageurs,  set  out  at  the  same 
time  to  find  good  sites  for  trading  posts.    And. 
when  he  and  Thompson  parted  company,  Stuart 
acted  in  Astor's  interests  and  stole  a  march  on  the 
Nor' wester  by  choosing  a  site  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Okanogan  where  he  could  compete  for  the  trade 
which  Thompson  was  expecting  to  attract  to  his 


'.■'iM 


*i;t| 


IS6 


ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 


fort  on  the  Spokane.  There  Stuart  established  him- 
self.  Thompson  in  the  meantime  was  faring  north 
again  through  the  mountains  to  put  in  the  trapping 
season  among  the  Salish  and  then  to  take  the  long 
route  by  lake  and  river  to  Montreal. 


At  Astoria  the  little  colony  now  began  eagerly 
to  watch  for  the  sails  of  the  Tonquin.  It  was  a 
watch  kept  in  vain.  The  history  of  the  Tonqitin 
after  she  crossed  the  bar  is  barely  more  than  a 
rumor,  for  the  diarists  at  Astoria  set  down  only  so 
far  as  they  were  able  to  understand  it  the  story 
told  them  by  an  Indian  interpreter  who  was  the 
only  man  to  escape  alive  from  the  scene  of  disaster. 

The  Tonquin  proceeded  from  Baker's  Bay  to 
Clayoquot  on  Vancouver  Island.  Here  she  dropped 
anchor  and  signaled  for  trade.  This  was  done 
against  the  entreaties  of  the  interpreter,  who  warned 
Captain  Thorn  that  the  natives  of  Nootka  and 
Clayoquot  were  hostile  and  treacherous.  Thorn 
was  not  one  to  listen  to  warnings.  He  was  a  cour- 
ageous man,  but  he  seems  not  to  have  been  able 
to  differentiate  between  fear  and  caution  in  other 
men.  Not  only  did  he  insist  on  trading  in  that 
region,  but  he  ignored  all  advice  about  letting  the 
natives  aboard  only  in  very  small  numbers.    He 


THE  TONQUIN  1S7 

knew  nothing  of  Indian  character  nor  of  the  pa- 
tience and  tact  which  must  be  used  in  meeting 
their  annoying  methods  of  barter.  One  day,  when 
Mackay  had  gone  ashore.  Thorn  spread  out  the 
goods  for  trade  and  proceeded  to  tell  the  Indiana 
precisely  what  he  would  give  for  each  otter-skin. 
The  natives  understood  neither  Thorn  nor  his  ways. 
They  demanded  more  and  still  more.  He  refused 
to  trade  with  them  at  all.  His  anger  only  served 
to  arouse  their  mockery  and  insolence.  One  old 
chief,  who  had  led  the  others  in  bidding  up  the 
prices,  pattered  about  the  deck  after  Thorn,  pok- 
ing an  otter-skin  at  him  and  alternately  quoting  a 
price  and  hurling  a  gibe.  In  exasperation  Thorn 
snatched  the  pelt  and  smacked  the  chief's  face  with 
it.  Then  he  thrust  the  old  native  off  the  deck  and 
kicked  the  furs  about.  The  Indiaiis  gathered  up 
their  pelts  and  made  for  the  shore  in  a  fury. 

When  Mackay  returned  and  learned  what  had 
taken  place,  he  urged  Thorn  to  set  sail  at  once. 
Mackay  knew  the  vengeful  Indian  temper.  Thorn 
treated  his  counsel  with  contempt.  Had  tiey  not 
cannon  and  firearms  on  board?  Then  why  should 
they  run  from  a  band  of  naked  savages?  He  re- 
fused to  make  any  preparations  against  a  surprise 
attack  and  turned  in  for  the  night. 


,<i* 


1S8 


ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 


Before  Thorn  or  Mackay  was  awake  in  the  early 
morning  the  Indians  came  alongside  in  their  huge 
canoes  and  made  signs  to  the  man  on  watch  that 
they  had  come  to  trade.  They  were  apparently 
imarmed.  As  no  orders  to  the  contrary  had  been 
issued,  the  Indians  were  allowed  on  board.  Canoes 
clustered  about  the  ship  with  both  men  and  women 
in  them.  Tb«  women  remained  in  the  canoes  while 
the  men  clambered  over  the  ship's  sides.  Mackay 
and  Thorn  hastily  came  on  deck,  and  Mackay  again 
urged  the  captain  to  weigh  anchor.  Thorn  re- 
Kised.  The  Indians  offered  to  trade  on  terms 
satisfactory  to  Thorn  and  pelts  were  soon  rapidly 
(hanging  hands.  The  principal  articles  demanded 
in  trade  w«<e  blankets  and  knives.  The  blankets 
the  Bien  threw  overboard  into  the  canoes,  but  the 
knives  they  kept  in  their  hands.  As  soon  as  each 
man  had  sold  his  furs  and  received  his  exdiange, 
he  moved  off  and  took  up  a  position  on  another  part 
of  the  deck.  By  the  time  that  the  furs  were  all  dis- 
posed of,  there  were  several  armed  natives  grouped 
advantageously  near  to  every  white  man  on  dedc. 

The  anchor  was  being  weighed,  men  had  gone 
aloft  to  make  sail,  and  the  captain  ordered  the 
decks  cleared.  With  a  yell,  the  Indians  began  the 
real  work  they  had  come  there  to  do. 


THE  TONQUIN  iw 

Lewis,  the  clerk,  was  stabbed  in  the  back  as  he 
leaned  over  a  bale  of  blankets  and  fell  down  the 
companionway.  Mackay,  who  was  sitting  on  the 
taffrail,  was  clubbed.  He  fell  overboard  and  was 
received  on  the  knives  of  the  women  in  the  canoes. 
Thorn  made  a  fierce  fight  for  his  life.  He  was  a 
big  burly  man  of  great  strength,  and  he  laid  one  or 
two  Indians  low  with  his  fists  and  a  clasp-knife 
before  he  was  clubbed  down  and  stabbed  to  death. 
Every  white  man  on  deck  fell.  There  were  seven 
men  aloft.  Four  of  them  escaped  by  leaping 
through  the  hatch.  They  reached  the  cabin  where 
they  found  the  wounded  Lewis.  Here  the  five 
men  barricaded  themselves  in,  cut  holes  for  their 
firearms,  and  began  pouring  out  a  fire  that  drove 
the  natives  back  to  their  canoes  and  to  the  shore. 

During  the  night  the  four  men  who  were  unhurt 
lowered  the  ship's  boat  and  stole  out  upon  the  tide, 
with  the  desperate  resolve  of  trying  to  row  back 
to  Astoria.  When  morning  came  the  Indians,  rec- 
onnoitering  from  a  safe  distance,  saw  a  white  man 
on  deck.  It  was  evident  that  he  was  badly  hurt 
and  very  weak.  He  made  friendly  signs  to  them, 
inviting  them  on  board.  The  opportunity  for  rich 
plunder  was  too  alluring  to  be  resisted.  Presently 
a  few  natives  climbed  over  the  taffrail.     The  deck 


140  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

was  empty  save  for  the  furs,  the  bales  of  bimnkets, 
and  other  merchandise.  The  one  survivw  had 
crawled  below  again;  and  there  was  no  sign  of  the 
other  men  whose  musket  fire  had  driven  off  the 
savages  after  their  victory  of  the  preceding  day. 
They  signal>-c  lo  their  tribesmen  who  were  lingering 
at  a  safe  (n  ..  :iiice.  And  it  was  not  long  before  the 
deck  was  tiiroaged  with  Indians,  while  crowded 
canoes,  rocking  on  the  tide,  rubbed  against  the 
ship's  sides. 

But,  if  yesterday  had  seen  an  Indian's  vengeance, 
today  was  to  see  a  white  man's.  Satisfied  at  last 
with  the  numbers  of  his  foes  which  he  had  lured  on 
board  the  Tonquin  and  about  her,  this  sole  survivor 
dragged  himself  to  the  powder  magazine.  The 
natives  on  shore  heard  a  sound  new  to  them  and 
more  terrible  than  the  roar  of  the  Thunder-God;  it 
was  the  one  note  of  a  dying  white  man's  war  song. 
The  Tonquin  was  blown  into  slivers  by  the  explosion 
and  the  Hay  was  strewn  with  bits  of  what  had  once 
been  hu.uan  bodies.  Of  over  a  hundred  warriors 
who  had  been  jauntily  gathering  the  spoils  on  deck, 
only  a  few  gruesome  traces  were  washed  ashore. 
Those  in  the  canoes  also  suffered  havoc.  A  number 
were  killed;  many  were  wounded  and  mangled. 

There  was  mourning  in  Clayoquot.     The  death 


THE  TONQUIN  Ul 

fire*  burned  along  the  shore;  and  wailing  was  heard 
in  the  great  cedar  houses  which,  last  night,  had 
echoed  to  the  savage  chant  of  triumph. 

But  a  day  or  so  later  the  sea  cast  up  to  the  Clayo- 
quots  a  sacrifice  to  appease  the  spirita  of  their 
slain.  The  four  seamen  who  had  left  the  Ton- 
quin  in  the  mad  hope  of  reaching  Astoria  were 
captured  as  i:i,y  slept  in  a  cave.  They  were 
dragged  to  the  village  and  were  put  to  death  after 
prolonged  torture. 

In  substance,  this  was  the  story  which  the  inter- 
preter told  to  the  Astorians  when  at  last  he  arrived 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  with  an  Indian  fishing 
fleet.  Rumors  had  already  reached  the  little  col- 
ony by  other  Indians  from  the  Strait  of  Juan  de 
Fuca,  who  had  come  to  the  bay  for  sturgeon  fish- 
ing. Indian  gossip  credited  the  Russians  with 
having  instigated  the  attack  on  the  Tonquin.  In- 
deed, the  Indians  still  maintain  that  the  attack* 
on  American  ships  in  those  years  were  due  to 
Russian  influence. 

The  story  of  the  Tonquin'i  fate  and  the  deple- 
tion of  the  little  <K)lony,  through  the  departure  of 
Stuart  and  his  party  to  the  new  inland  trading 
post,  moved  the  Indians  on  the  lower  Columbia  to 
ask  themselves  wliether  they  really  desired  the 


M 


,ii 


M«  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

presence  of  the  white  men  at  Aftoru.  The  vote 
WM  in  the  negative.  McDougal  knew  Indiana. 
Therefore  he  was  quickly  iiupiciou*  when  he  found 
them  unwilling  to  trade  and,  in  fact,  deserting  the 
fort  where  they  had  so  recently  made  themselves 
very  much  at  home.  He  set  his  men  to  work  at 
once,  strengthening  barricades,  putting  guns  in 
place,  and  making  other  preparations  against  at- 
tack. Then,  all  being  in  readiness,  McDougal 
sent  for  Comcomly  and  other  headmen,  charged 
them  with  their  perfidy,  and  vowed  a  terrible  ven- 
geance if  they  did  not  immediately  mend  their 
ways.  He  knew  how  terrified  the  natives  were 
of  the  smallpox,  which  they  believed  to  be  the 
work  of  a  devil.  McDougal  held  up  a  corked 
bottle,  declaring  that  it  contained  the  spirit  of 
the  smallpox.  Unless  they  behaved  he  would  let 
loose  that  disfiguring  and  devastating  devil.  Hast- 
ily they  assured  him  that  they  would  behave.  He 
was  the  greatest  of  all  great  chiefs.  They  would 
certainly  behave. 

McDougal,  as  time  went  on  —  so  we  learn  — 
thought  il.  best  not  to  rely  entirely  upon  the  super- 
natural. Suppose  a  jealous  medicine  man  were 
to  steal  th<"  bottle  and  drop  it  to  the  bottom  of 
the  river?    Such  a  contingency  was  not  at  all 


THE  TONQUIN  14t 

improbable.  For  the  cement  of  good-wiU  natural 
means  would  serve  better  than  supernatural  in  the 
long  run.  So  at  last  there  came  a  day  when  the  old 
Nor'wester  girded  himself  with  amity  and  put  fair 
words  in  his  mouth  and  went  a-wooing.  After 
sufficient  gifts  and  palaver  had  been  exchanged, 
one  of  the  many  Misses  Comcomly  became  Mistress 
McDougal. 

Presumably  the  marriage  was  a  happy  one,  for  it 
inspired  other  Astorians  to  seek  connubial  bliss. 
And,  in  time,  old  Comcomly,  the  one-eyed,  came  to 
be  known  as  "the  father-in-law  of  Astoria." 


MldOCOPY   «ES01UTK>N   TEST  CHAUT 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


li£     112.0 


II  I.I     L 

11:25    mil  1.4     mil  1.6 


^  -APPLIED  I^A^GE     In. 

^^-  1653  East  Mam  Street 

S^S  Racheite',    N«i>   York         14609        USA 

"-as  (716)  *82  -  0300  -  Phone 

^S  (716)  288  -  5989  -  Fax 


CHAPTER  V 


ASTOR  B  OVEKLANDERS 


The  story  of  Astor's  Overlanders  is  a  tale  of  hero- 
ism which  enriches  history  even  while  it  reveals 
deplorable  ignorance  and  inefficiency.  Here,  as  in 
his  maritime  enterprise,  Astor  showed  unwisdom 
in  his  choice  of  a  leader.  His  own  lack  of  actual 
experience  beyond  the  frontier  was  most  unfortu- 
nate for  him,  for  it  led  to  fatal  mistakes  in  judg- 
ment. Apparently  he  could  discern  men's  moral 
qualities,  could  perceive  strength  of  will,  courage, 
rectitude.  Jonathan  Thorn  had  possessed  these 
traits,  and  they  were  conspicuous  in  Wilson  Price 
Hiut,  the  leader  of  the  Overlanders.  But  Thorn's 
inadaptability  completely  offset  his  good  traits  and 
brought  about  disaster.  And  Hunt's  ignorance  of 
wilderness  life  came  near  to  wrecking  the  overland 
expedition. 

In  July,  1810,  Hunt  went  to  Montreal  to  engage 
a  brigade  of  voyageura,  taking  with  him  Donald 

IM 


ASTOR'S  OVERLANDERS  us 

Mackenzie,  a  fellow  partner  in  Astor's  Pacific  Pur 
Company,  formerly  a  NorVester.    At  Montreal 
Hmit  and  Mackenzie  found  the  hand  of  the  Nor'- 
westers  everywhere  against  their  efforts  to  recruit 
rivermen  and  they  failed  to  enlist  the  crew  they 
needed.     They  took  what  they  could  get,  however, 
and  headed  up  the  Ottawa  and  across  Lake  Huron 
to  Michilimackinac,  there  to  augment  their  force 
from  the  horde  of  idle  boatmen  and  trappers  who 
lay  about  the  strait  every  summer  waiting  for  the 
trapping  season.    At  Michilimackinac.  too.  Hunt 
and  Mackenzie  experienced  difficulties.    No  sooner 
was  a  canoeman  engaged  and  a  sum  in  advance 
paid  to  him  than  some  tavern-keeper  or  trades- 
man would  appear  with  a  bill  against  him.     Hunt 
must  either  pay  the  biU,  or  lose  his  employee  and 
the  money  advanced  to  hold  him  to  his  bargain. 
Another  cause  of  delay,  quite  as  irritating,  lay  in 
the  volatile  temperament  of  the  Canadian  canoe- 
man.    After  Pierre  or  Frangois  had  made  his  bar- 
gain  and  received  his  advance  wages,  he  must 
celebrate  —  gather  his  friends  and  kin  about  him, 
carouse  with  them,  sing  and  dance.     Tomorrow, 
next  day,  or  next  week,  would  be  time  enough 
to  embark;  but  today  the  wineshop  beckoned, 
tonight  the  fiddles  called. 


146  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

At  length  the  partners,  with  their  train  of  vaga- 
bonds, were  ready  for  the  journey  to  St.  Louis, 
across  Lake  Michigan,  across  Wisconsin,  and  down 
the  Mississippi.  They  arrived  at  St.  Louis  on  the 
3d  of  September.  Here  Hunt,  seeking  to  engage 
hunters  and  river  boatmen,  found  Manuel  Lisa  of 
the  Missouri  Fur  Company  not  one  whit  behind 
the  Montreal  traders  in  putting  obstacles  in  his 
way.  By  the  time  that  Hunt  had  manned  and 
outfitted  his  expedition,  it  was  too  late  in  the  year 
to  set  out;  for  the  upper  waters  of  the  Missouri 
would  be  under  ice  before  the  boats  could  traverse 
more  than  the  first  five  hundred  miles  of  the  river. 
But,  apart  from  the  expense  of  wintering  sixty 
men  in  St.  Louis,  Hunt  did  not  intend  to  leave 
his  mercurial  rivermen  for  months  within  reach  of 
the  taverns  and  of  the  machinations  of  the  fertile 
Lisa.  Towards  the  end  of  October  he  pushed  far 
up  the  Missouri  with  his  crew  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Nodaway  some  miles  above  the  site  of  St.  Joseph. 
On  thb  favorable  spot  in  a  good  game  country  the 
Overlanders  went  into  camp.  Two  days  later  the 
first  blasts  of  winter  closed  the  river  immediately 
north  of  them. 

In  January,  1811,  Hunt  returned  to  St.  Louis. 
He  was  anxious  to  engage  more  hunters,  expert 


ASTOR'S  OVERLANDERS  147 

riflemen  who  might  be  needed  not  only  to  hunt 
game  but  to  defend  the  expedition  from  hostUe 
Indians.     And  he  must  also  procure  an  inter- 
preter to  ease  the  party's  way  through  the  Sioux 
country  where,  according  to  report,  he  was  like- 
ly to  meet  with  serious  trouble.     On  this  quest 
Hunt  encountered  new  diflSculties,  for  the  Mis- 
souri Fur  Company  was  also  equipping  an  expedi- 
tion not  only  for  trade  but  to  make  a  search  for 
one  of  their  partners,  Andrew  Henty,  who  had 
been  forced  by  the  savage  Blackfeet  to  abandon 
the  Company's  fort  at  Three  Forks.     Thus  there 
was  a  lively  competition  for  riflemen,  in  the  midst 
of  which  Hunt  was  anything  but  gladdened  to  see 
five  of  his  own  hunters  from  the  camp  on  the  Mis- 
souri trjdge  into  St.  Louis.     They  had  t       reled 
with  the  partners  in  charge  of  the  camp.    Hunt 
could  persuade  only  two  of  them  to  return  with  him. 
Hunt's  pirogues  put  out  from  St.  Louis  on  the 
nth  of  March.    Despite  his  setbacks,   he  felt 
himself  fortunate  in  having  the  services  of  Pierre 
Dorion,  a  half-breed,   whose  father  had  served 
Lewis  and  Clark  as  interpreter  among  the  Sioux. 
Pierre  Dorion  had  been  an  employee  of  the  Mis- 
souri Fur  Company,   but  had  fallen    out    with 
Lisaove       whiskey  bill.    Pierre  considered  it  an 


148 


ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 


unpardonable  wrong  that  Lisa  had  charged  whiskey 
against  him  at  ten  dollars  a  quart.  Therefore  he 
engaged  with  Hunt  the  more  willingly.  But  as 
Lisa  must  pass  through  the  Sioux  territory,  he,  too, 
had  urgent  need  of  Dorion,  the  only  man  avail- 
able knowing  the  Sioux  tongue.  When  blandish- 
ments failed  to  detach  the  half-breed  from  his  new 
employers,  Lisa  quietly  secured  a  writ  relative  to 
the  whiskey  debt  and  arranged  to  have  Dorion 
served  with  it  at  St.  Charles,  on  the  way  up  the 
river.  Thus  the  interpreter  would  be  prevented 
from  continuing  with  Hunt,  and  must  take  his 
choice  of  either  joining  Lisa's  own  party  or  re- 
maining in  durance  vile  and  penniless  in  the  little 
village  of  St.  Charles.  Lisa's  scheme  was  foiled, 
however,  by  two  English  scientists  traveling  with 
Hunt,  named  Bradbury  tnd  *iuttall,  who  had  in 
some  way  learned  the  plot  and  who  warned  Dorion. 
The  enraged  interpreter  left  the  boats  shortly  be- 
fore St.  Charles  came  into  view  and  slipped  into 
the  woods,  promising  to  rejoin  the  brigade  on  the 
next  day  at  a  safe  distance  above  the  village. 

At  the  moment  of  departure  from  St.  Louis, 
Dorion  had  given  Hunt  an  unwelcome  surprise;  he 
had  arrived  on  the  river  bank  with  his  Sioux  wife 
and  two  small  children  and  had  refused  to  embark 


re  he 
it  as 
,  too, 
ivail- 
dish- 
inew 
ve  to 
orion 
p  the 
;nted 
e  his 
ir  re- 
little 
ailed, 
with 
ad  in 
>rion. 
y  be- 
.  into 
n  the 

!i0uis, 
3e;he 
c  wife 
ibark 


'■•^h 


■'■■''"■--,  AaTfttfilirisa  ' 

Wood  "gniTtof  ta,r.|ii»H,  «*  KmUami  (ha.i  rf 


,    ! 


ill:  i  h,.  i  !■•  '.  .1    -11  ^1  '  'iHKiriv 


l,o.W/ 


ASTOR'3  OVEBLANDERS  14» 

without  them.  Now,  as  he  left  the  boats  below 
St.  Charles,  his  wife  and  chi!,'--n  and  a  bundle 
containing  all  his  earthly  goods  went  into  the  woods 
after  him.  But  it  was  a  lonely  and  disconsolate 
man  who  signaled  from  the  shore  the  next  morn- 
ing. There  had  been  a  family  tiflf  during  the 
night  and  Pierre,  always  forcible  in  argument,  had 
applied  the  logic  of  the  rod.  His  wife,  convinced 
but  offended,  had  stolen  awav  in  the  darkness  tak- 
ing with  her  the  children  and  the  bundle.  Pierre's 
woe  was  so  deep  that  Hunt  halted  the  boats  and 
sent  a  Can:idian  voyageur  into  the  woods  to  seek 
for  the  lost  woman,  but  without  avail.  On  the 
following  morning  before  daybreak,  howe  .  the 
distressed  husband  heard  the  voice  of  love  calling 
to  him  from  the  opposite  shore  and  woke  the  camp 
to  share  his  joy.  Hunt  sent  a  canoe  across;  and 
the  wife,  the  children,  and  the  bundle  were  once 
more  restored  to  their  owner. 

Hunt's  next  stopping  point  wa^  'le  village  of 
La  Charette,  at  the  mouth  of  Femme  Osage  Creek, 
the  home,  it  will  be  recalled,  of  Daniel  Boone,  the 
famous  Kentucky  hunter,  fighter,  and  explorer. 
Despite  his  seventy-five  j  ars,  Boone  had  spent 
the  preceding  winter  in  the  wilds  trapping  beaver 
and  had  returned  with  over  fifty  skins.     Perhaps 


140  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

only  the  influence  ol  his  sons  and  his  wife  kept  him 
from  casting  in  his  lot  with  Hunt's  party.  The 
old  pioneer  stood  on  the  bank  as  the  boats  pushed 
up  the  river  and  watched  them  out  of  sight. 

Early  on  the  next  day  the  Overlanders  saw  • 
small  bark  canoe  with  a  single  occupant  skim- 
ming down  the  Ude.  It  was  John  Colter,  return- 
ing to  civilixation  after  one  of  his  lonely  trapping 
forays  in  the  Yellowstone.  He  had  much  to  tell 
the  Overlanders  of  the  malignant  Blackfeet;  and 
though  he  was  strong'y  tempted  to  join  their  great 
adven»  ire,  the  charms  of  a  newly  wedded  bride, 
who  awaited  him  somewhere  down  the  river,  ap- 
pealed to  him  at  that  time  more  than  the  lure  of 
the  wilderness. 

Passing  through  the  territory  of  the  Osages.  the 
Overlanders  learned  that  there  was  war  through- 
out the  greater  part  of  the  Indian  country;  and 
that  the  Sioux  had  been  out  on  raids  during  the 
preceding  summer  and  could  be  expected  to  take 
the  warpath  in  full  force  as  soon  as  spring  had 
cleared  the  prairies  of  snow.  They  heard,  too. 
that  the  Sioux  had  determined  to  stop  white  trad- 
ers from  selling  arms  to  other  tribes  with  whom 
they  were  at  war.  And  while  the  boats  .lalted  at 
Fort  Osage,  where  they  were  greeted  by  Ramsay 


ASTOR-S  OVERLANDERS  m 

Crooks,  one  of  the  partners  from  the  Nodaway 
camp,  they  saw  proof  of  the  rumors  of  Iniiian 
unrest.  A  war  parly  of  Osages  returned  from  an 
atUck  on  an  Iowa  village  and  held  high  festival  to 
celebrate  the  taking  of  seven  scalps.  There  were 
dances,  with  triumphant  shoutings,  processions, 
and  planting  of  the  war  pole  by  day,  and  torch- 
light processions  and  barbecLca  by  night. 

These  excitemenU  so  thrilled  the  still  undis- 
ciplined savage  nature  of  Dorion's  Indian  wife 
that,  when  the  hour  for  sailing  came,  she  r^eclined 
to  go  on;  she  would  remain  forever  wl  e  such 
pleasant  things  were  happening.  Donun,  how- 
ever, who  had  not  forgotten  the  pangs  which  her 
absence  had  caused  him  earlier  in  the  journey,  was 
in  no  mind  to  go  lamenting  and  lonely  all  the  way 
to  Astoria.  He  resorted  again  to  the  birch.  Before 
Hunt  could  interpose,  Dorion  had  convinced  his 
mate  that  trivial  amusemenU  were  not  worthy  to 
weigh  against  the  duties  and  delights  of  matrimony. 
By  the  middle  of  April  the  Overlanders  joined 
their  comrades  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nodaway,  and, 
after  a  delay  of  some  days,  owing  to  the  weather, 
they  all  started  up  the  Missouri  on  their  long 
journey  to  the  Columbia.    In  the  party,  numbering 


about  sixty,  which  Hunt  was  to  lead. 


were  four 


U«  ADVENTURERS  OP  OREGON 

partners  besides  himself,  and  these  four  were  ex- 
perienced frontiersmen.     Donald  Mackenzie,  one- 
time Nor'wester,  was  a  "winterer"  of  the  Great 
North;  Ramsay  Crooks,  a  Scot,  had  traded  and 
trapped  on  the  plains  with  Robert  McLellan,  an 
old  border  fighter  famed  for  his  exploits  and  his 
marksmanship;  and  Joseph  Miller  had  fought  as 
a  lieutenant  under  "  Mad  Anthony  "  Wayne.     To 
any  one  of  these  men  might  Astor  more  wisely 
have  entrusted  his  overland  expedition.    Mac- 
kenzie, indeed,  had  joined  with  the  understanding 
that  he  was  to  share  the  command.    But  at  the 
last  minute  Astor  had  reduced  to  a  subordinate 
position  the  bluff  Nor'wester  who  knew  the  wil- 
derness as  Astor  knew  his  garden.     Then  there 
were  the  hunters,  among  them  the  Virginian  John 
Day,  a  clerk  named  John  Reed,  the  interpreter 
Dorion  and  his  family,  and  the  crew  of  voya- 
gruTS.    On  the  88th  of  April  they  camped  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Platte  River  for  breakfast.    Here 
they  saw  more  signs  of  Indian  war.    On  the  bank 
lay  the  frame  of  a  bull  boat.    It  had  been  used  not 
long  since  to  convey  a  raiding  party  across  the 
river.    Rolling  smoke  on  the  horizon  and,  at  night, 
a  red  glare  in  the  sky  told  of  grass  fires  lighted  by 
a  fleeing  band  to  cut  off  pursuers. 


ASTOR'S  OVEBLANDEBS  15s 

A  few  nights  later  as  the  party  slept,  save  the 
guards,  eleven  Sioux  warriors  rushed  into  the  camp 
yeUing  and  brandishing  tomahawks.    Seized  and 
overpowered,  they  protested  that  their  visit  was 
friendly.    But  Dorion,  being  familiar  with  Sioux 
customs,  said  that  their  naked  state  showed  them 
to  be  members  of  a  band  defeated  in  war  who  had 
cast  off  their  garments  and  ornaments  and  vowed 
to  recover  ♦heir  honor  as  warriors  through  perform- 
ing some  act  of  blood.     But  for  the  prompt  action 
of  the  guards  the  eleven  devotees  would  there  and 
then  have  retrieved  their  right  to  flaunt  feathers. 
Hunt  sent  them  across  the  river  towards  their  own 
territory  under  ward  of  his  riflemen,  with  a  warn- 
mg.    He  was  not  in  a  mood  to  appreciate  Indian 
pleasantry,  of  that  nature.   Two  more  of  his  hunt- 
ers had  deserted  only  a  couple  of  days  before. 
If  they  continued  to  desert  as  the  need  of  them 
became  greater,  the  situation  promised  to  be  seri- 
ous enough.    These  frequent  desertions  by  hunt- 
ers inured  to  the  wilderness  and  its  dangers  are  in 
strong  contrast  to  the  loyalty  and  obedience  of  the 
men  who  served  under  Lewis  and  Clark.     This  is 
accounted  for  by  Hunt's  ignorance  of  the  men  he 
was  dealing  with.    Apparently  he  knew  neither 
how  to  allay  grievances  nor  how  to  enforce  law. 


IM  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Lewis  and  Clark,  themselves  experienced  in  fron- 
tier life,  could  give  initiative  full  play  without 
relaxing  the  bonds  of  discipline. 

Hunt  had  other  anxieties.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  two  English  scientists  were  traveling 
with  the  expedition.  Bradbury,  an  elderly  bota- 
nist and  mineralogist,  had  been  sent  out  by  the 
Linneean  Society  of  Liverpool  to  make  a  collection 
of  American  flora.  Nuttall,  a  younger  man,  was 
also  a  botanist.  Bradbury  carried  a  rifle,  for  he 
was  a  mild  sportsman  after  the  manner  of  English 
country  gentlemen  of  his  day;  but  Nuttall's  sole 
weapons  appear  to  have  been  his  microscope  and 
trowel.  At  every  halting  place,  regardless  of  the 
Indian  danger,  the  two  scientists  would  wander  off 
over  the  prairie  in  different  directions  each  ab- 
sorbed in  his  special  pursuit.  Did  Nuttall  discov- 
er a  new  plant,  or  Bradbury  overturn  a  bit  of  min- 
eral stone,  instantly  all  warnings  were  forgotten. 
They  would  range  farther  and  farther  afield  until 
recaptured  by  a  band  from  their  own  party.  Nut- 
tall, armed  only  with  his  trowel,  tripping  out  over 
the  Indian  prairie  to  dig  for  roots  that  were  not  for 
the  pot,  especially  drew  the  amused  contempt  of 
the  t/oyageurs.  They  called  him  "the  fool."  OA 
Mt  lefouf  became  a  byword  of  the  camp. 


ASTOR'S  OVERLANDEHS  us 

One  day,  as  the  boats  approached  a  bend  in  the 
river,  Bradbury  elected  to  leave  his  boat  and  walk 
across  the  stretch  of  prairie  which  lay  in  front  of 
tl    -n.     They  were  in  the  country  of  the  fierce 
Tc    m  Sioux,  who  were  gathering  in  force,  Hunt 
had  just  learned,  to  bar  their  progress  and  take 
away  their  goods  and  weapons.    In  vain  Hunt 
reminded   Bradbury  of  "Indian  signs."    Brad- 
bury had  seen  "signs"  of  iron  ore.     With  the 
huge  portfolio  in  which  he  pressed  flowers  under 
his  arm,  his  camp  kettle  slung  on  his  back,  and  his 
rifle  over  his  shoulder,  he  set  off.    This  day  the  old 
gentleman  met  with  an  adventure.    After  having 
emptied  his  rifle  noisily  but  ineffectively  at  some 
prairie  dogs,  he  stood  near  the  bank  at  the  upper 
side  of  the  bend  peering  at  a  mineral  specimen 
through  his   microscope  when  he  felt  ungentle 
hands  upon  his  shoulders.     There  ensued  a  few 
lively  moments  during  wUch  three  or  four  savages 
alternately  threatened  him  with  a  leveled  cross- 
bow and  tried  to  drag  him  away  to  their  main 
camp.    Against  their  carnal  weapon  Bradbury 
opposed  the  arms  of  science.    The  crossbow  was 
lowered  before  the  charms  of  the  scientist's  pocket 
compass.    When  the  novelty  of  the  compass  wore 
off  and  hands  again  descended  on  Bradbury's 


r:« 


1S6  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

shoulders,  he  produced  the  microscope.  The  fas- 
cination of  this  instrument  fortunately  held  the 
attention  of  the  Indians  until  the  boats  came  up, 
when  they  fled. 

The  Indians  visited  the  camp  next  day  with  a 
white  man  bearing  a  note  from  Manuel  Lisa  asking 
Hunt  to  writ  for  him  so  that  the  two  bands  might 
pass  together  through  the  Sioux  country.  In  view 
of  his  experience  of  the  Spaniard  and  his  methods, 
Hunt  did  not  regard  the  overture  favorably.  More- 
over, he  had  heard  from  Ramsay  Crooks  and 
Robert  McLellan  of  treachery  which  they  believed 
to  have  been  dealt  them  by  Lisa  in  the  previous 
year  in  the  Indian  covmtry.  Himt  decided  not 
to  wait.  He  sent  Lisa  an  ambiguous,  though  a 
friendly,  answer. 

On  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  May,  Hunt  was 
deploring  the  loss  of  two  more  deserters  when  two 
canoes  bearing  white  men  hove  in  sight.  The  men 
were  three  hunters,  Robinson,  Hoback,  and  Rez- 
ner.  They  had  been  with  Lisa's  partner,  Andrew 
Henry,  on  one  of  the  head  branches  of  the  Colum- 
bia, where  Henry  had  gone  after  the  Blackf eet  had 
driven  him  from  the  Three  Porks  of  the  Missouri. 
They  were  Kentuckians  of  the  stripe  of  those 
great  frontiersmen  who  won  and  held  the  DarJ 


ASTOK'S  OVERLANDEBS  157 

and  Bloody  Ground.  Robinson  was  a  veteran  of 
sixty-six  years.  He  had  been  scalped  in  the  Ken- 
tucky wars  and  wore  a  kerchief  about  his  head 
to  conceal  his  disfigurement.  The  three  were  on 
their  way  home  to  Kentucky;  but,  learning  what 
was  afoot  here,  they  turned  their  canoes  adrift 
on  the  stream  and  threw  in  their  lot  with  the 
Overlanders. 

A  few  days  later  the  expedition  confronted  a 
Sioux  war  party  some  six  hundred  strong  gathered 
on  the  river's  bank.  The  Overlanders  hastily 
loaded  swivel  guns  and  small  arms  and  made  ready 
to  fight  their  way  throufeu.  The  Sioux,  seeing 
these  preparations,  spread  their  bu£FaIo  robes  on 
the  ground  —  their  sign  of  peace,  as  Dorion  ex- 
plained —  and  invited  the  white  men  to  a  council. 
Hunt,  with  the  other  partners  and  the  interpreter, 
stepped  ashore  —  followed,  it  should  be  added, 
by  the  elderly  scientist,  Bradbury,  who  was 
always  eager  to  collect  data  concerning  the  abo- 
rigines. The  calumet  was  passed  roimd  the  circle 
and  presents  of  tobacco  and  parched  com  were 
brought  from  the  boat.  The  demeanor  of  the 
white  men  was  friendly  and  the  gifts  stacked  beside 
Hunt  were  appetizing.  And  the  warriors  could 
see  the  hunters  with  their  rifles  on  board  the  boats. 


,   i; 


158 


ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 


while  the  swivel  guns  pointed  shorewards  like  fin- 
gers of  benediction  lifted  over  the  peace  council. 
The  chiefs  declared  that  they  had  meant  to  inter- 
fere with  the  white  men's  boats  only  because  they 
believed  they  were  carrying  ammunition  to  the 
Arikaras,  Minnetarees,  and  Mandans,  witli  whom 
the  Sioux  were  now  at  war.  Since  the  white  men 
were  merely  on  their  way  to  join  their  friends 
beyond  the  mountains,  the  Sioux  had  nothing  but 
kindly  feelings  towards  them. 

Two  days  had  barely  passed  when  another  large 
Indian  band  was  sighted  running  down  to  the  river 
as  if  to  seize  the  boats  in  the  channel  ahead,  which 
was  narrowed  by  a  sand  bar.  Immediately  the 
men  crouched  low,  their  rifles  ready.  Miller  felt 
a  touch  on  his  arm.  Nuttall  had  risen  to  his  feet 
and  was  peering  at  the  flock  of  feathered  warriors. 
"  Sir,"  Miller  heard  the  scientist  ask  with  much  ani- 
mation, "  don't  you  think  these  Indians  much  fatter 
and  more  robust  than  those  of  yesterday?  "  These 
fatter  Indians,  however,  proved  to  be  Arikaras 
and  their  allies,  out  for  a  skirmish  with  the  Sioux. 
They  jumped  into  the  water  and  held  out  their 
hands  in  the  way  of  the  white  man's  greeting,  and 
then  hastened  away  to  their  towns  up  the  river  to 
prepare  their  people  for  the  visit  of  the  white 


ASTOR'S  OVERIANDERS 


1A9 


tradeTs  with  the  hope,  of  course,  of  a  supply 
of  arms. 

The  expedition  was  still  some  miles  below  the 
Ar.uira  village  when  two  Indians  came  up  in  haste 
to  inform  Hunt  that  another  large  trading  boat 
was  ascending  the  river.  Manuel  Lisa  had  read 
between  the  lines  of  Hunt's  soft  answer  and  was 
straining  every  nerve  to  overtake  Astor's  barges. 
Hunt  thought  it  best  to  lie  to  and  wait  for  the 
Spaniard.  He  seems  to  have  spent  the  waiting 
time  chiefly  in  calming  the  fiery  McLellan,  who 
had  sworn  to  shoot  Lisa  on  s'ght  because  of  the 
Spaniard's  machinations  against  himself  and  his 
partner  Crooks  among  the  Sioux  the  year  be- 
fore. Another  member  of  Hunt's  party  whose  soul 
turned  to  gall  at  the  prospect  of  Lisa's  society  was 
Pierre  Dorion.  He  remembered  now  not  only  the 
ten-dollar  whiskey,  not  only  the  threat  breathed 
into  his  ear  in  St.  Louis,  but  also  the  sneaking 
writ  that  had  been  intended  to  lay  him  by  the 
heels  in  St.  Charles;  and  probably  he  charged  up 
against  Lisa  those  distressful  hours  spent  with- 
out his  adored  mate  and  his  children  and  his  bun- 
dle. Brooding  on  his  wrongs,  Dorion  sank  into  a 
sullen  rage. 

The  Overlanders  were  traveling  in  four  boats. 


leo  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Lisa's  party,  which  numbered  twenty-four  bendei 
himself   and   a   young   sightseer   named   Henry 
Brackenridge,  had  one  large  boat,  propelled  by 
twenty  rowers  and  mounting  a  swivel  gun  on  the 
bow.     Among  this  boat's  occupanU  there  sat  a 
woman  and  her  child  —  no  other  than  the  Bird- 
Woman,  Sacajawea,  and  the  small  boy  who  had 
entered  into  the  world  while  his  heroic  mother 
was  on  the  march  with  Lewis  and  Clark.    As 
on  that  journey,  she  accompanied  her  husband 
Toussaint  Charboneau,  the  interpreter.    The  great 
event  of  her  life,  the  crossing  of  the  continent 
with   Lewis   and   Clark,   and   the   characters  of 
those  two  brave  adventurers  had  impressed  the 
Bird-Woman  w'th  a  deep    love    for   the  white 
race;  and  she  had  tried,  in  her  humble  fashion, 
to  imitate  their  ways  of  life  as  far  as  she  was 
able.    But  now,  it  seems,  she  was  ill,  perhaps 
drifting  into  a  decline  as  do  so  many  Indians  after 
contact  with  the  alien  white  people;  and  her  desire 
was  towards  her  own  tribe,  the  far  distant  Sho- 
shones,  that  her  days  might  be  finished  among 
them.    This  will  be  our  last  glimpse  of  the  intelli- 
gent and  courageous  Bird-Woman,  who  piloted 
Clark  safely  through  the  mountain  passes  on  the 
homeward  march. 


ASTORS  OVERLANDEBS  161 

And  what  of  the  little  Charboneau,  at  this  time 
about  six  years  of  age?  Casting  forward  through- 
out some  forty  years,  we  find  references  to  him  in 
the  annals  of  Oregon  and  Idaho  traders.  It  ap- 
pears natural  enough  that  he  should  have  struck 
out  for  the  country  of  his  mother's  people  and  for 
that  farther  West  of  her  wonderful  journey,  for 
these  were  surely  the  subjects  of  most  of  the  stories 
she  had  told  him  in  his  childhood  when  they  two 
sat  in  the  fire's  gleam  and  she  spun  for  him  the 
magical  threads  of  romance,  as  mothers  do  all  the 
world  over. 

For  two  days  the  rival  traders  traveled  togeth- 
er in  apparent  good-will.  Lisa,  indeed,  was  so 
smooth-tongued  and  gracious  that  Dorion  forgot 
his  wrongs  and  accepted  an  invitation  to  visit  the 
Spaniard's  boat.  Lisa  plied  the  half-breed  gen- 
erously with  whiskey  and  sought  to  win  him  from 
his  allegiance.  But  Dorion  had  his  own  sense  of 
honor;  and  not  for  bribes  nor  even  for  the  liquor  he 
too  dearly  loved  would  he  consent  to  break  his 
agreement.  Lisa  must  have  lost  his  temper  at  this 
inconvenient  exhibition  of  rectitude,  for  he  threat- 
ened to  retain  Dorion,  forcibly  if  need  be,  to  work 
out  his  old  debt  of  ten  dollars  a  quart.  Dorion 
flew  into  a  rage,  left  the  boat,  and  went  to  Hunt  at 


,  ' 


IM  ADVENTUREBS  OP  OREGON 
once  with  the  story.  Lisa  followed  him  but  wm 
not  in  time  to  prevent  Dorion's  revelation*,  if  that 
were  hU  object.  There  wa»  a  violent  scene;  and 
Dorion,  whose  blows  were  always  readier  than  his 
w:.  -ds,  struck  Lisa.  The  noise  of  the  brawl  pres- 
ently lured  all  lovers  of  excitement  to  the  spot. 
Lisa  had  a  knife,  but  Dorion  seized  a  pair  of  pistoU 
and  so  kept  his  foe  at  a  distance.  McLeUancame 
up  with  his  rifle,  and  Hunt  had  some  difficulty 
again  in  persuading  him  to  defer  the  payment  of 

his  vow. 

Meanwhile  the  scientific  Bradbury  and  the  ht- 
erary  Brackenridge  were  doing  their  best  to  aid 
Hunt  in  soothing  the  combatants.    Lisa,  in  his 
spleen,  next  hurled  an  insult  at  Hunt.    Hunt's 
ire  rose,  and  he  challenged  Lisa  to  a  pistol  duel. 
Both  expeditions  might  have  come  to  a  permanent 
halt  that  night,  had  Bradbury  and  Brackenridge 
not  succeeded  in  preventing  the  duel  from  taking 
place.    It  was  Lisa  who  yielded.    Herealized.no 
doubt,  that,  if  he  fought  Hunt  and  won.  he  would 
have  Dorion  and  McLellan  to  settle  with  afterwards. 
The  two  expeditions  continued  in  company  dur- 
ing the  days  following,  but  there  was  no  further 
interchange  of  courtesies  untU  they  arrived  be- 
fore the  Arikara  village  and  pitched  their  camps 


ASTOR'S  OVERLANDEBS 


16S 


on  opposite  shores  near  the  mouth  of  the  Grand 
River  (South  Dakota).  Lisa  then  sent  Bracken- 
ridge  to  Hunt's  i^  .1  with  the  suggestion  that  they 
should  enter  the  village  together  with  the  outward 
appearance  of  amity,  as  it  would  be  unwise  to  let 
the  warriors  have  an  inkling  of  the  differences  that 
existed  between  the  white  men.  Hunt  agreed  the 
more  readily  because  he  preferred  to  have  the  Span- 
iard under  his  eye  during  his  intercourse  with  these 
Indians  who  were  new  acquaintances  of  his  but 
old  customers  of  his  adversary.  McLellan  saw  to 
his  rifle. 

In  his  speech  at  the  council  in  the  village,  Lisa 
dissipated  in  a  great  measure  the  suspicions  and 
ill-feeling  against  him.  He  assured  the  Indians 
that,  though  his  party  and  the  Overlanders  had 
separate  interests  in  trade,  he  would  resent  any 
wrong  done  to  his  rivals  as  forcibly  as  if  it  were 
done  to  himself.  He  also  lent  Hunt  every  assist- 
ance in  securing  horses  to  convey  his  men  and 
baggage  overland.  Hunt  intended  to  leave  the 
river  al  this  point  and  to  pursue  his  way  across 
the  plains,  swinging  southwesterly  through  the 
country  of  the  Crow  Indians  and  crossing  the 
Rockies  through  the  Big  Horn  Range.  In  this  de- 
cision he  had  taken  the  advice  of  the  three  hunters. 


ie4  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Robinion,  Hoback,  and  Reiner,  who  had  urged  him 
to  avoid  the  dangerous  territory  of  the  Bladcfeet. 

Here,  then,  the  Overlanders  were  to  leave  the 
trail  of  Lewia  and  Clark  and  blaze  their  own  path 
to  the  tea.    It  wa»  a  foolhardy  move;  and  Li»a 
might  well  smile  and  assist  in  expediting  his  rivals 
on  their  way  to  destruction,  as  he  saw  it.    Had 
Hunt  possessed  a  knowledge  of  the  wilds  and  of 
Indians,  he  must  surely  have  realized  that  sixty 
men.  well   armed,  would  have  a  good  fighting 
chance  against  raiding  parties  of  Blackfeet,  but 
that  sixty  men  with  their  mounts  and  pack  horses 
would  be  courting  disaster  in  launching  into  un- 
known regions  where  they  might  lack  for  game  and 
water  and  for  fodder  for  their  horses.   And,  indeed, 
they  might  expect  to  lack  their  horses  also,  for  the 
Crow  Indians  were  the  most  skillful  horse  thieves 
on  the  plains.    No  wonder  LLja  was  all  gracious- 
ness.     He  was  to  tride  horses  of  his  own,  pastured 
among  the  Mandans,  for  Hunt's  four  excellent 
boats  which  would  probably  be  carrying  the  Mis- 
souri Fur  Company's  pelts  to  St.  Louis  while  the 
bones  of  the  Astorians  lay  bleaching  on  the  desert. 
On  the  18th  of  July  the  Overlanders  parted  with 
the  scientists,  who  were  returning  to  St.  Louis,  and 
set  out  from  the  Arikara  village  with  eighty-two 


y  Ab  t.  Dfak.  liter  *  dmwiiK  by  E.  DHfaf'ia 
«^A«A*MM^byJo«huGren,  184».         j 


i(H  ADVENTURERS  OF  OEEGOX 

Hobijxsuii,  Hoback.and  Rt-znt-r,  wh(i  hmi  urged  him 
to  avoid  the  daiifcerous  territory  of  l]v  Blaokfwt. 

Her's  then,  thf  Ovfrlauders  were  'o  Kavo  the 
trail  of  Lewis  and  Clark  <.nd  bliizo  tlu.ir  own  path 
to  tile  sta.  ll  wait  a  foolhardy  move,  and  Lisa 
might  well  uttiWr  and  assist  in  expedilin^'  his  rivals 
on  their  «.•«>  to  destruction,  as  he  saw  it.  Had 
Hunt  i>os.it;*M^  a  knowledge  of  the  wi!ds  and  of 
Indian'!.  S»«  uiait  -wirt'lv  iKivi'  realizet!  that  sixty 
men.  v.,;!  ,.,,,,.!  vfotdd  Ii^.-,-  ■,  g<.,,.i  iighting 
chiitir.'  1!^.'    ,-■   ',.T"n£;  p.irtie.^  fit  TSTiivKTei-t,  but 

would  hi.  ic-.ntng  (iiiij-stti  in  hium.hiiijj  inlfj  un- 
known rtj;i«j:  -i  where  they  might  laek  (oT  game  and 
watrr  aati  f'»r  ksitk-r  for  their  horses.  And,  iudf'e<i, 
they  UiiKl.t  ♦rfjiw-t  to  lack  their  horses  al.so,  for  the 
Crow  Imjuias  w*ft'  i*H  most  skillful  horse  thieves 
oB  the  piaiiiJ..  No  womler  Lisa  Fas  all  gracious- 
ne43.  Ke  wall  to  tra<!e  horses  of  his  own,  pastured 
amooji;  thf  Mandaii.-,  for  Hunfs  fi>ur  excellent 
boats  which  «.iiu!d  ]>rol)ably  be  carrying  the  MLs- 
souri  Fu!  CoHpaiiy's  pelts  to  St.  Ixiid.s  while  the 
bones  o?  lite  .^.•.torians  lay  bleaching  on  the  desert 
On  the  5Slh  of  .luly  the  Overlanders  parted  with 
the  scientist.s  wt>u  were  returning  to  St.  Lf)ui3,  and 
.set  out  from  the  Ankara  village  with  eighty-two 


/  •: 


i 


ASTOR'S  OVERLANDERS  165 

horses,  pursuing  a  southwesterly  course  across  the 
Grand  and  Moreau  rivers.  Hunt  had  not  been 
able  to  procure  mounts  for  all  his  people.  Most  of 
the  horses  carried  heavy  packs  containing  ammuni- 
tion, goods  for  trade,  traps,  Indian  corn,  corn  meal, 
condensed  soup,  dried  meat,  and  other  essentials. 
Hunt  and  he  other  partners  were  on  horseback. 
Dorion  and  his  Sioux  mate  trudged  together,  she  at 
his  heels  leading  a  horse  on  which  were  securely 
roped  the  little  Dorions  and  the  bundle.  An  ad- 
dition made  to  the  party  in  the  Ankara  village 
was  a  renegade  white  man  named  Edward  Rose,  a 
sullen  creature,  of  a  vicious  appearance.  Because 
Rose  had  lived  for  some  years  with  the  Crows, 
Hunt  engaged  him  as  interpreter. 

Towards  the  end  of  July  the  Overlanders,  on 
their  southwestern  route  across  the  hot  plains,  fell 
in  with  a  friendly  band  of  Cheyennes,  from  whom 
they  purchased  thirty-six  horses.  The  bales  of 
baggage  were  reasserted  and  one  horse  was  allotted 
to  every  two  men .  After  two  weeks  spent  in  hunt- 
ing and  trading  with  the  Cheyennes,  the  cavalcade 
crossed  the  Cheye.ine  River  and  moved  on,  now 
veering  south  towards  the  Big  Horn  Range.  On 
the  way.  Rose  approached  some  malcontents  of  the 
party  with  a  plan  to  run  off  the  pack  horses  with 


166  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

their  rich  bales  and  join  the  Crows.  These  spoUs,  so 
he  assured  them,  would  win  for  them  high  positions 
in  the  tribe  of  his  friends.   Hunt  forestalled  the  plot 
by  the  simple  expedient  of  a  bribe,  consistmg  of 
half  a  year's  «ay.  a  horse,  some  beaver  traps,  and 
merchandise  tc  be  given  Rose  after  he  had  guided 
the  party  through  the  country  of  his  adopted 
brothers.    Thus  made  sure  of  his  own  rise  m  the 
world,  Rose  ceased  his  altruistic  efforts  to  promote 
the  fortunes  of  others. 

To  supply  so  large  a  caravan  with  meat,  the 
hunters  ranged  afield  in  small  parties     On  one 
occasion  three  of  these  hunters  missed  the  trail, 
and  there  occurred  another  agonized  separation 
of  the  Dorion  famUy,  for  Pierre  was  with  them. 
The  men  had  been  out  for  several  days,  and  their 
comrades  had  given  them  up  for  lost  when  at  last 
they  rode  into  camp.    The  stoical  look  with  which 
the  Sioux  woman  faced  her  fear  through  those 
few  days  gave  way  to  wUd  enthusiasm  of  ]oy 
when  she  saw  her  heavy-handed  lord  retummg 
to  her  safe  and  somid.    The  peculiar  domesticity 
of  the  Dorions  Hunt  seems  to  have  regarded  with 
a  shocked  wonder,  for  on  this  journey  he  wa^ 
making  his  first  acquamtance  with  the  children 
of  the  wilderness  in  their  own  habitat.    Before 


ASTOR'S  OVEHLANDEHS  167 

this  time  he  had  known  of  them  only  what  they 
chose  to  reveal  across  his  trading  counters  in 
St.  Louis. 

Hunt's  attitude  of  mind,  as  well  as  his  material 
data,  was  passed  on  to  Washington  Irving.  We 
cannot  overpay  Irving  in  thanks  for  the  valuable 
record  he  made  for  us  from  the  letters  and  diaries 
of  the  Astorians.  But  the  heart  of  the  life  he 
sought  to  picture  was  hidden  from  him.  Hunt 
and  Thorn,  men  bred  in  his  own  world,  he  un- 
derstood; but  Nor' westers,  voyageurs,  Indians  — 
and  the  bond  between  the  wild  Dorions  —  were 
enigmatical  to  him 

In  the  furnace  heat  of  mid-August  the  Over- 
Landers  drove  on  towards  the  red  sandstone  crags 
of  the  Black  Hills,  which  stretched  across  the 
horizon  like  flames  caught  and  fixed  in  fantas- 
tic outlines  by  the  gods  of  the  mountains.  On  the 
heights  of  that  red  barrier,  said  the  Indians  of  the 
plains,  these  gods  or  spirits  dwelt.  And  some- 
times they  spoke,  not  only  in  the  thunders  they 
sent  hurtling  through  the  sky,  but  in  calm  days 
and  even  in  the  silent  s  arry  nights  when  all  save 
gods  slept.  These  reverberations,  heard  in  the 
Rockies  as  well  as  in  the  Black  Hills,  have  been 
variously  if  not  yet  conclusively  explained.    Lewis 


168  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

and  Clark  describe  the  sound  as  consisting  some- 
times of  one  stroke,  sometimes  of  several  loud  dis- 
charges in  quick  succession,  and  resembling  closely 
the  sound  of  a  six-pound  cannon  at  a  d  "stance  of 
three  miles.  In  some  regions  of  the  Yellowstone 
the  sound  has  a  more  musical  character,  suggesting 
that  the  gods  in  those  flaming  towers  have  relaxed 
from  wrath  to  listen  while  their  bards  strike  upon 
the  strings  of  a  thousand  harps. 

But  whether  in  wrath  or  at  their  pleasures,  the 
gods  know  well  how  to  guard  against  any  approach 
to  theirfortressesof  sculptured  fire,  as  the  Overland- 

ers,  being  only  mortals,  soon  learned.    Here  and 
there,  a  corridor  would  seem  to  invite  them,  bat 
it  led  only  to  another  barred  door;  and  there  was 
little  game  in  these  mock  passes.    Still  seeking  a 
way  through,  they  moved  southward  for  several 
days,  and  then  turned  west.    Having  found  their 
way  through  the  Black  Hills,  they  were  now  trav- 
eling along  the  ridge  which  separates  the  branch 
waters  of  the  Missouri  from  those  of  the  Yellow- 
stone; and  they  were  steering  their  course  by  the 
summits  of  the  Big  Horn  Range  far  to  the  west 
of  them.    They  stumbled  upon  an  Indian  trail 
and  followed  it  for  two  days  into  the  mountains. 
Water  was  scarce  and  the  heat  stifling.    They  saw 


ASTOR'S  0\'ERLANDERS  169 

no  more  buffalo,  for  the  defiles  we.  •  ba-e  of  grass. 
Com  meal  and  a  wolf  served  them  for  supper  one 
night;  and  a  small  stream  gladdened  their  parched 
throats  after  twenty-five  miles  along  a  waterless 
route.  After  another  long  stretch  of  hard  travel 
they  came  out  at  last  upon  green  sward  and  water 
at  one  of  the  forks  of  the  Powder  River.  They 
took  a  slow  pace  up  the  bank  of  the  river,  for  buf- 
falo were  plentiful  here  and  the  hunters  were  busily 
killing  and  drying  meat.  On  the  30th  of  August 
they  camped  near  the  southern  end  of  the  Big 
Horn  Mountains.  They  had  traveled  nearly  four 
hundred  miles  since  leaving  the  Arikara  village. 

Here  they  were  visited  by  two  scouts  from  a  band 
of  Crows.  It  was  evident  that  the  Indians  had 
kept  Hunt's  party  under  observation  for  some  days. 
Through  Rose,  the  interpreter,  amicable  relations 
were  established  with  this  band  and  fresh  horses 
were  procured.  Then  the  Overlanders  hastened  on; 
they  were  probably  none  too  certain  of  keeping  the 
horses  they  had  paid  for  in  goods  if  the  Crows 
should  take  a  notion  to  recover  them.  But  the 
ravines  they  now  entered  led  nowhere  and,  after  a 
day  of  checkmate,  they  returned  to  the  vicinity  of 
their  last  encampment.  Rose,  who  had  been  left 
with  his  adopted  Crow  brethren,  came  into  camp 


170  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

the  next  morning.    He  bore  a  message  from  the 
Crow  chief  inviting  the  party  of  white  men  to 
accompany  his  band  across  the  mountains.    As 
Hunt's  own  attempts  to  find  a  pass  over  the  hills 
had  been  fruitless,  he  accepted  the  chief's  offer, 
albeit  with  misgivings.    So  into  the  narrow  moun- 
tain trail  they  went,  the  trows  leading  the  way 
and  the  white  men  following.    If  the  Crows  were 
famed  for  their  horse  stealing  they  were  no  less 
justly  famed  for  then:  horsemanship.    Every  man, 
woman,  and  child  rode,  and  their  small-hoofed 
wiry  ponies  could  cling  to  the  face  of  a  cliff  and 
dash  along  the  rocky  ledges  with  the  sur"'y  of 
antelopes.    Even  the  two-year-old  children  rode, 
strapped  with  buffalo  thongs  upon  their  own  ponies. 
Absaroka,  the  Bird-People  or  Sparrowhawks,  was 
the  true  name  of  these  Indians ;  but  it  is  said  that  the 
French  traders,  who  called  them  Le«  gens  des  Cor- 
beaux,  and  their  neighbors  on  the  plains  had  named 
them  after  the  prime  thief  of  the  bird  tribe  because, 
like  crows,  they  flew  down  from  their  nests  in  the 
mountains,  filched  whatever  took  their  fancy  and 
bore  it  aloft  where  their  robbed  victims  could  not 
follow.    However  they  acquired  the  appellation, 
they  deserved  it.    But  the  name  of  Sparrowhawk 
might  well  have  been  given  them,  as  a  compliment 


ASTOR-S  OVERLANDERS  171 

to  their  riding;  for,  on  their  spirited  horses,  they 
skimmed  through  the  defiles  and  over  the  crests  of 
the  ridges  like  hawks  on  the  wing. 

The  Crows  soon  left  Hunt's  party  far  behind, 
but  they  had  shown  him  the  road.  Though  Hunt 
had  suspected  their  motives  it  appears  that,  for 
once  at  least,  these  mountain  magpies  had  been 
moved  by  an  honest  impulse,  for  they  did  not  lie  in 
wait  for  the  white  men  and  steal  their  horses.  The 
next  day,  the  Overlanders  met  a  small  party  of 
Shoshones  with  whom  they  crossed  the  second 
ridge  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains  and  hunted 
buffalo  on  the  plain  below.  The  Shoshones  di- 
rected Hunt  towards  the  Wind  River,  some  thirty 
miles  distant,  and  told  him  that  it  would  lead  him 
towards  the  pass  which  opened  upon  the  south 
fork  of  the  Columbia  River,  the  Snake;  and  then 
went  on  their  separate  way. 

After  journeying  up  the  Wind  River  for  about 
eighty  miles  the  Overlanders  halted  to  make  camp 
and  to  take  council.  In  the  five  days  of  travel  up 
the  river,  repeatedly  crossing  its  windings,  they 
had  seen  no  game.  Though  Robinson,  Hoback, 
and  Rezner  assured  Hunt  that,  by  tracing  this 
river  to  its  source  and  crossing  the  one  ridge  there, 
he  would  reach  the  headwaters  of  the  Snake,  Hunt 


178  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

determined  to  veer  again  to  the  southwest  where  he 
had  heard  that  another  river  cut  a  way  through  the 
mounUins.    There  they  would  again  see  buffalo. 
As  they  reached  a  high  ridge  commanding  a  wide 
view,  one  of  the  hunters  pointed  to  where  three 
snowy  peaks  pierced  the  sky  far  to  the  west  and 
said  that  at  their  feet  lay  the  tributary  of  the 
Columbia.    These  peaks  were  the  famous  Three 
Tetons,  first  discovered,  so  far  as  we  know,  by  the 
lone  trapper,  John  Colter.    In  not  following  the 
bed  of  the  Wind  River  towards  these  grand  old 
pilots,  Hunt  made  another  error.    The  course  he 
took  for  forty  miles,  southwesterly  along  high 
country  touched  here  and  there  with  snow,  led 
him  to  the  southward  flowing  waters  of  the  Green 
River,  the  north  fork  of  the  Colorado.    After 
several  days  of  travel  and  hunting  along  its  banks, 
as  the  river  still  continued  southward,  he  turned 
northwest  again  to  seek  a  pass  through  the  moun- 
tains.   Eight  miles  of  riding  led  to  a  little  moun- 
tain stream  with  buffalo  feeding  about  it.    Here 
the  Overlanders  camped  to  kill  and  dry  meat 
enough  for  the  remainder  of  their  journey  and  to 
give  men  and  horses  a  rest.    During  the  eighteen 
days  of  September  they  had  crossed  two  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  of  hard  country. 


ASTOR*S  OVERLANDERS  17S 

On  the  24th  of  September  they  broke  camp. 
Their  westerly  course  across  the  Gros  Ventre  Range 
led  them  to  a  stream  where  Hoback  had  trapped 
beaver  a  year  before.  Hoback's  River,  as  it  ia 
still  called,  is  a  tributary  of  the  Snake  and  there- 
fore one  of  the  source  streams  of  the  Columbia. 
They  followed  it  through  precipitous  passes,  where 
at  times  there  was  barely  foothold  for  their  horses, 
to  its  confluence  with  the  turbulent  and  wider 
waters  of  the  Snake.  Here,  in  a  rugged  valley  and 
within  close  view  of  the  Three  Tetons,  they  halted. 
There  was  great  joy  in  camp  that  night.  The 
evening  meal  was  a  feast  of  celebration;  and  no 
doubt  a  dance  to  the  scraping  of  the  fiddle  and 
a  shouting  chorus  were  a  part  of  the  thank-offer- 
ing made  by  the  voyageurs  and  hunters  who  now 
believed  that  all  their  troubles  were  ended. 

Near  the  head  of  the  Snake  River,  then,  the 
voyageurs  set  about  canoe-making.  As  the  expedi- 
tion was  now  apparently  almost  within  hail  of  the 
Columbia,  four  of  the  men  who  had  joined  for 
the  purpose  of  himting  and  trapping  cast  off  from 
the  party  and  launched  into  the  wilds.  The  joy 
of  the  canoe-builders  was  short-lived.  Three  men 
whom  Hunt  had  sent  ahead  to  explore  the  river 
returned  with  word  that  it  was  not  navigable. 


u 


174  ADVENTURBRS  OF  ORFGON 

Hoback  and  his  two  companiona  now  suggetted 
that  the  party  should  go  on  over  the  inUrvening 
ridge,  the  Snak«  River  Range,  to  Andrew  Henry's 
fort,  on  Henry's  River,  which  joined  the  Snake 
farther  down.  On  the  4th  of  October  the  Over- 
landers  forded  the  river  and  began  ascending  the 
mounUin.  On  the  eighth  in  a  squall  of  wind  and 
snow  they  reached  the  fort.  It  was  deserted." 
Hunt  took  possession  of  the  fort  for  the  Pacific  Pur 
Company,  turned  his  horses  loose  and  engaged  two 
Shoshones  to  take  charge  of  the  horses  and  the  fort. 
Here  Hoback,  Rezner,  Robinson,  another  hunter 
named  Cass,  and  M'ller,  one  of  the  partners,  left 
the  party  and  set  forth  to  hunt  and  trap. 

On  the  18th  of  October  the  Overlanders  em- 
barked on  the  little  river  running  past  the  fort, 
which  stood  opposite  the  site  of  the  present  Egin, 
Idaho.  Their  fleet  consisted  of  fifteen  canoes. 
The  stream  that  bore  them  pre-ently  joined  with 
the  waters  of  the  Snake,  over  six  hundred  miles 
above  the  point  where  Lewis  and  Clark  had 
launched  their  canoes  on  that  river  six  years  before. 
Down  the  widened  flow  sped  the  canoes,  the  voy- 
ageurs  singing  to  the  swift  rhythmic  strokes  of  their 

■  Henry  by  this  lime  had  reached  the  Ariksra  village  and 
rejoined  Lisa. 


ASTOR'S  OVERLANOEBS  175 

paddle*.  They  made  thirty  miles  before  they 
camped  for  the  night.  The  next  day  after  twenty 
miles  of  easy  navigation  they  began  to  meet  with 
rapids.  In  places  the  men  were  obliged  to  make 
portage  along  the  shore,  in  others  to  pass  the  ca- 
noes down  stream  by  the  towline.  Their  dangen 
and  difficulties  increased  daily.  They  lost  four 
canoes  with  most  of  the  cargo  in  them  and  the  life 
of  one  voyageur.  At  length,  after  some  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  of  water  travel,  they  came  to 
the  grand  canyon  of  the  Snake  where  the  river,  at 
Shoshone  Fails,  plunges  down  through  a  narrow 
chasm  between  towering  sides  of  sheer  rock.  Sev- 
c  ral  men  were  sent  out  to  explore.  They  retiuned, 
after  having  gone  forty  miles  down  the  riv&,  and 
reported  that  the  channel  continued  impassable; 
the  four  canoes  they  had  taken  with  them  had  been 
smashed.  To  add  to  the  gravity  of  the  situation, 
the  party  now  had  only  five  days'  rations. 

Here  they  resolved  to  separate  into  four  par- 
ties. Mackenzie  with  four  men  turned  northward, 
hoping  that  a  march  across  the  arid  Snake  River 
Plains  would  bring  him  ultimately  to  a  navigable 
branch  of  the  Columbia.  McLellan  with  three 
men  pressed  on  down  along  one  bank  of  the  Snake 
and  Reed  headed  a  party  down  the  other.    Ramsay 


w  ; 


, 


I  \ 


176  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Crooks,  with  six  men,  went  back  up  the  river, 
hoping  to  encounter  a  Shoshone  encampment 
where  he  might  be  able  to  procure  food  and  a  few 
horses.  If  this  hope  faUed.  he  would  make  the 
long  journey  back  to  Henry's  Fort  and  bring  the 
horses  for  the  relief  of  the  main  party,  which  would 
remain  with  Hunt  at  the  canyon. 

Hunt's  men  spent  three  days  in  caching  their 
goods  at  the  head  of  the  canyon.  ITiey  caught 
a  few  beaver  which  eked  out  their  scanty  food 
supply.  On  the  third  day  Ciooks  and  his  men 
reappeared,  having  realized  that  the  oncoming 
winter  would  make  it  impossible  for  them  to  reach 
Henry's  Fort  on  foot  and  return  through  the 
mountains  with  the  horses,  even  if  they  should  find 
the  horses  still  at  the  fort. 

Hunt  feared  to  follow  Mackenzie's  plan  of  strik- 
ing across  the  lava  desert  of  Snake  River  Plains 
because  of  the  lack  of  water.  He  decided  to  keep 
on  down  the  Snake.  He  divided  his  people  into 
two  bands.  Crooks,  with  eighteen  men,  would  take 
the  south  bank,  and  Hunt  himself,  with  the 
game  number  of  men  and  the  Dorion  family,  the 
north  bank.  They  set  out  on  the  9th  of  Novem- 
ber, each  man  carrying  his  share  of  the  remain- 
ing provUions.    They  had  cached  most  d  their 


ASTOR-S  OVERL/.yDERS  1T7 

baggage,  but  some  blank  ts,  ammuuUi  m,  traps, 
and  other  essentials  must  be  carried.  Each  man 
bore  twenty  pounds,  in  addition  lo  hAf  personal  be- 
longings. Dorion's  wife  bore  her  pack,  frequently 
with  the  added  weight  of  her  two-year-old  son, 
while  the  other  child,  aged  foiir,  marched  beside 
her.  There  is  no  record  of  any  complaint  from 
her,  although  she  was  now  nearing  the  time  when 
she  should  give  birth  to  a  third  child. 

Though  they  followed  the  river,  the  high  rocky 
banks  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  descend  for 
water,  but  on  the  second  day  they  found  some 
rain  pools  among  the  rocks.  On  the  third  day 
Hunt  and  his  party  reached  a  camp  of  Shoshones, 
from  whom  they  purchased  two  dogs  for  their 
breakfast. 

For  nearly  a  month  Hunt  and  his  men,  with  the 
Sioux  woman  and  her  children,  wandered  through 
the  mountains  about  the  Snake.  Sometimes  they 
found  a  little  game  or  met  with  Shoshones  and 
obtained  a  couple  of  dogs  or  a  few  horses.  Of tener 
they  hungered.  Rain  in  the  gorges  and  snow  and 
bitter  winds  on  the  ridges  increased  the  pain  of 
their  travel.  On  the  6th  of  December  they  es- 
pied white  men  coming  up  the  opposite  bank. 
These  were  Crooks  and  his  companions.    Worn 


ii   ! 


178  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

with  fatigue  and  emaciated  from  hunger,  they 
were  returning  from  a  point  about  sixty  mUes 
down  the  river  which  they  could  not  pass  because 
there  were  no  longer  banks  and  ledges.  Th. 
shores  were  mountain  walls  of  rock  rising  almost 
perpendicularly  from  their  base  in  the  boUing 
waters  to  their  crests  of  snow.  Crooks  and  his 
party  had,  perforce,  turned  back.  They  had  eaten 
their  last  meal  —  their  moccasins. 

Hunt  killed  the  last  horse  but  one  and,  hastily 
making  a  canoe  out  of  the  hide,  sent  across  the 
river  for  Crooks.    But  after  Crooks  had  been  fer- 
ried across,  the  canoe  was  lost,  swept  away  by  the 
current,  before  food  could  be  taken  over  to  the 
famished  men  on  the  farther  bank,  and  the  turbu- 
lent waters  forbade  the  employment  of  a  raft. 
Since  Crooks  had  found  the  way  down  the  river 
impassable.  Hunt  was  left  with  no  choice;  he  also 
must  turn  back.    Both  parties  now  headed  up  the 
river  along  the  opposite  banks,  retracing  slowly 
their  painful  steps.    Crooks  was  very  ill  and  could 
not  travel.    Hunt  remained  with  him,  allowing 
the  others  to  push  on  in  advance.    At  lei^ 
Crooks  broke  down  and  could  go  no  farther  with- 
out food.    The  one  horse  remaining  belonged  to 
Dorion.    He  had  paid  for  it  with  a  buffalo  robe. 


ASTOR'S  OVERLANDEHS  179 

and  it  carried  his  children  and  his  bundle.  He 
refused  to  part  with  it,  even  for  food.  Fortu- 
nately, before  that  night  they  reached  a  Shoshone 
encampment  and  found  a  number  of  horses  paw- 
ing and  snufiSng  for  grass  under  the  light  snow. 
Two  or  three  of  the  hunters  crept  forward,  drove 
the  frightened  Indians  away,  captured  five  horses, 
killed  one,  and  set  about  cooking  it.  By  means 
of  a  skin  canoe  which  they  made,  cooked  horse- 
flesh was  now  sent  across  the  river  to  the  starving 
band  on  the  other  side.  These  men  had  kept  hero- 
ically on  the  march,  though  they  had  not  tasted 
food  for  nearly  ten  days. 

The  majority  of  Hunt's  men  moved  on  dou- 
bling their  course  up  the  river  they  had  lately 
descended.  But  John  Day,  who  had  crossed  to 
Hunt's  party  from  the  south  side,  collapsed.  He 
had  been  formerly  in  Crooks's  employ  in  the  Sioux 
country,  and  Crooks  would  not  leave  him  now. 
Hunt  was  obligett  to  press  on  with  his  party,  how- 
ever, as  his  leadership  and  authority  were  needed, 
but  he  left  behind  with  Crooks  and  Day  a  voyageur 
named  Dubreuil,  and  two  horses  and  some  meat. 

On  the  15th  of  December  Hunt's  party  came  to  a 
little  river,  probably  Boise  Creek,  which  they  had 
formerly  crossed  three  weeks  earlier.    As  its  banks 


V' 


1 


180  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

were  inviting,  they  followed  them  up  some  dis- 
Unce  and  camped  in  open  level  country.    The 
weather  was  so  cold  that  ice  was  rumimg  m  the 
Snake,  and  snow  feU  frequently.    On  the  twenty- 
third,  following  the  lead  of  three  Shoshones  from 
a  lodge  on  the  creek  who  consented  to  gmde  them 
across  the  mountains.  Hunt  and  his  men  crossed  X^ 
the  south  side  o!  the  Snake,  near  the  mouth  of 
another  river,  probably  the  Payette  or  the  We.- 
ser     The  two  parties,  now  united,  moved  on  to- 
gether, save  for  the  men  left  behind.  Crooks,  Day. 
and  Dubreuil,  and  three  voyageurs,  who,  being  un- 
able to  march  further,  asked  permission  to  remam 

among  the  Shoshones. 
Onthemomingofthetwenty-fourththetraveers 

turned  westward  and  away  from  the  Snake,  but 
their  hardships  were  not  ended.    The  expedition, 
consisting  now  of  thiity-two  white  men,  Dorion  s 
wife  and  children,  the  three  Indian  guides,  and  hve 
horses,  made  headway  slowly  and  painfully^  One 
sparse  meal  a  day  hardly  took  the  edge  off  the^ 
hunger.    Kain  and  snow  impeded  their  march. 
Heavy  night  frosts  chilled  them  through  as  they 
lay  in  camp  and  gave  an  icy  temperature  to  the 
streams  they  were  obliged  to  ford  from  tmie  to 
time,  as  they  struck  out  northwesterly  for  the 


ASTOR'S  OVERLANDERS  181 

chain  of  forcted  and  snow-covered  mountain* 
rising  between  them  and  their  goal. 

In  the  bleak  and  snowy  dawn  of  the  thirtieth, 
the  Sioux  woman  began  to  be  in  travail;  and  Hunt, 
divided  between  his  sense  of  duty  towards  the 
expedition  and  his  feelings  of  humanity,  hesitat- 
ed about  taking  up  the  day's  march.  Food  was 
very  scanty.  Every  hour  oi  delay  was  dangerous. 
Dorion,  too,  urged  him  to  go  on.  The  party  there- 
fore pressed  forward,  while  Dorion  and  his  children 
remained  with  the  woman.  If  Hunt  cast  an  anx- 
ious look  backward  at  the  lonely  camp  in  the  wil- 
derness, he  may  have  seen,  through  the  falling  snow, 
the  figure  of  the  half-breed  bent  over  the  fire  close 
to  that  dark  heap  on  the  ground  where  his  mate 
contended  against  the  malign  powers  of  cold  and 
starvation  for  the  life  bound  up  in  hers. 

On  the  next  day  the  sky  cleared.  The  Over- 
landers  were  approaching  a  Shoshone  village  south 
of  the  Blue  Mountains  in  Oregon.  The  wintry 
sun  shone  on  a  little  valley  that  stretched  out 
before  their  gaze,  dotted  with  Shoshone  lodges  and 
horses.  Here  they  were  hospitably  received.  On 
the  following  day  Dorion  tramped  into  the  vil- 
lage, leading  the  skeleton  horse  which  —  perhaps 
with  this  emergency  in  mind  —  he  had  repeatedly 


If    ! 

i 


i 


!  i 


188  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

refused  to  have  killed.  On  its  back  sat  the  Sio« 
woman  with  her  newborn  baby  in  her  arms  and  h« 
rwTyear-oKl  boy  dangling  in  a  blanket  fastened 

"^U  ;Sw  Year's  Day.  18H.  and  the  men  held 
a  celebration.     After  a  ban.uet  of  roast  ho- 
flesh    with  boiled  roots  and  entrees  of  dog  and 
!  punch  composed  of  hot  water,  the  mu.c.ans  of 
ZlX  produced  their  fiddles.    The  raya^eurs 
dtced  and  sang  as  in  the  days  of  thar  tnump^nt 
„.archeswithAlexanderMacken.eDav.dThomp^ 
son,  and  Simon  Fraser  of  the  Nor'westers.     And 
the  e  tattered  and  much  buffeted  men.  lean  from 
Sg  hunger  and  hardship,  dropped  their  troubles 
S  theLt  sands  from  the  glass  of  t^e  "Id  year^ 
For  two  days  the  Overlanders  rested  and  fed 
among  the  Shoshones.     Then  once  more    hey 
TsaUed  the  mountains,   where   somet.mes  they 
assaueu   ^^  „     Rv  the  7th  of  January 

sank  waist-deep  m  snow.    Bythe7tn 

they  were  descending  the  farther  slope.  The  hard 
travel  and  the  cold  had  so  weakened  some  of  the 
:::  that  they  could  not  keep  up  with  the  mam 
party.  Before  that  night,  the  Sioux  woman  s  baby 
Ld  On  the  next  day  they  came  upon  anoth« 
tip  of  friendly  Indians,  where  they jemamed 
^til  the  stragglers  overtook  them.     Here  they 


ASTORS  OVERLANDERS  188 

procured  horses  and  dogs,  and  here  also  they 
learned  that  a  band  of  white  men  had  recently 
gone  down  the  river  which  flowed  by  this  encamp- 
ment into  the  Columbia.  From  the  accounts  of 
the  party  given  him  by  the  Indians,  Hunt  felt 
sure  that  these  were  the  men  led  by  Mackenzie 
and  McLellan.  It  would  seem  that  this  river  was 
the  Umatilla  which  enters  the  Columbia  some 
distance  below  the  mouth  of  the  Walla  Walla. 
Leaving  the  river's  bank,  but  keeping  a  westerly 
course,  the  Overlanders  reached  the  Columbia  on 
the  21st  of  January.  Ten  days  later  they  were 
bargaining  for  canoes  with  the  Indians  at  the  Long 
Narrows.  On  the  15th  of  February  the  swift  tide 
of  the  River  of  the  West  bore  them  round  the 
promontory  into  safe  harbor  under  the  shadow 
of  Astoria. 

Here  they  found  the  men  who  had  set  oflF  from 
the  Snake  River  canyon  under  Mackenzie,  McLel- 
lan, and  Reed.  The  three  parties  had  gravitated 
together  in  the  hills  and  had  forced  their  way 
through  the  canyons  of  the  Seven  Devils  and 
Craig  Mountains  against  the  terrifying  obstacles 
which  had  turned  Hunt  and  Crooks  back  from  this 
route.  After  twenty-one  days  of  almost  super- 
human e£Fort,  peril,  and  hunger,  they  had  reached 


184  AUVENTUREKS  OF  OREGON 

the  navigable  lower  waters  of  the  Snake  and  fol- 
lowed them  into  the  Columbia.  Nothing  had  been 
seen  by  these  men  of  Crooks  and  Day  and  the 
vayageurs  who  had  dropped  out  of  the  march;  and 
they  were  now  counted  as  lost. 

McDougal  and  the  colony  within  the  fort  held 
a  grand  celebration  in  honor  of  Hunt's  arnval. 
Cannon  and  small  arms  were  fired,  liquor  kegs 
were  tapped,  and  the  huge  table  in  the  banquet 
hall  was  spread  with  such  deUcacies  as  fish,  beaver- 
tails,   and  roast  venison.    Fiddles  leaped  from 
their  bags  again  on  that  night  and  the  happy 
vcyyag^r,  danced.    Well  had  they  earned  then- 
right  to  jig  to  their  heart's  content,  for.  as  canoe- 
men  they  had  vanquished  strange  waters,  and  dur- 
ing six  terrible  months  they  had  marched  with  hon- 
ors over  more  than  two  thousand  perilous  miles. 


CHAPTER  VI 


A8TOBIA  UNDER  THE  NOR  WESTERS 


Three  immediate  tasks  faced  the  Astorians  as 
rainy  spring  succeeded  rainy  winter.  Dispatches 
must  be  sent  to  Astor,  branch  trading  posts  must 
be  established  in  the  interior,  and  the  goods  buried 
in  nine  caches  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  Snake 
canyon  must  be  recovered. 

The  loss  of  the  Tonquin  meant  that  the  letters 
and  reports  for  Astor  must  be  carried  overland. 
The  care  of  these  papers  was  undertaken  by  John 
Reed,  and  he  stowed  thfra  away  in  a  bright  tin 
box  made  specially  for  the  purpose.  Reed  would 
make  the  overland  journey  to  St.  Loub  in  com- 
pany with  Robert  McLellan,  Ben  Jones,  a  Ken- 
tucky hunter,  and  two  toyageurs.  Two  other  par- 
ties were  to  set  out  at  the  same  time  —  one,  under 
Robert  Stuart,  to  take  supplies  to  his  uncle's  fort 
on  the  Okanogan,  and  the  other,  consisting  of  two 
clerks,  to  go  to  the  caches. 


1  li 

I 


18«  ADVENTUKEES  OF  OREGON 

Accordingly,  towards  the  end  "'March    18M. 
the  three  parUe,  launched  canoes  and  ascended  the 
river.     Trouble  met  them  at  the  Long  Narrows. 
The  Indians  of  the  village  of  Wishram  above  the 
Narrows,  noted  for  their  arU  of  treachery  and 
piracy,  fell  upou  the  canoes.     A  fight  follow^. 
Ld.  before  the  white  men  were  masters  of  the 
field,  two  Indians  had  been  killed  and  Reed  had 
been  clubbed  and  wounded  and  h.s  shmmg  tm  box 
had  been  stolen.     His  condition  and  the  loss  o 
the  letters  canceled  the  overland  exped.t.on  for 
the  time  being      He  and  his  party  kept  on  to  the 
Okanogan  with  Robert  Stuart  and,  after  some  days 
at  the  fort  there,  turned  back  downstream  with 
the  two  Stuarts.    Not  far  from  the  Long  Narrows 
they  descried  on  the  bank  of  the  nver  two  naked 
white  men  who,  on  nearer  approach,  proved  to  be 
Ramsay  Crooks  and  John  Day.  To  the.r  old  com- 
panions it  seemed  that  they  had  risen  from  the  grave^ 
They  had  made  their  way  from  the  Snake  canyon 
through  terrible  hardship  and  had  recently  been 
stripped  of  their  clothes  and  moccasms  by  the 
IniansatWishram.    The  two  unfortunates  we,* 
taken  aboard  thecanoes,fed,andclothedhkecW. 
in  blankets  and  furs.     On  the  11th  of  May  they 
were  all  back  at  Astoria. 


ASTORIA  UNDER  THE  NOR'WESTERS  187 
B  it  the  problem  still  confronted  them  of  how 
to  send  dispatches  to  Astor,  and  this  notwith- 
standing that  they  now  had  a  seagoing  vessel. 
Two  days  before  the  canoes  beached  at  Astoria, 
the  Bearer,  Aster's  second  ship,  bearing  supplies, 
was  dnnii  inquiring  guns  off  Cape  Disappoint- 
ment. On  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  a  committee 
of  welcome  crossed  the  surfy  bar  to  the  ship's 
anchorage.  First  went  a  canoe  in  which  were 
six  Indian  paddlers  and  old  Comcomly,  who  had 
dressed  himself  in  his  best  to  do  the  honors.  A 
barge  followed  propelled  by  eight  voyageurs  and 
bearing  McDougal  and  McLellan.  Piloted  by  this 
delighted  reception  committee  the  ship  sailed  over 
the  bar  and  came  to  rest  in  Baker's  Bay.  The 
Beacer  brought  fifteen  American  laborers  and  six 
voyageurs,  five  clerks,  including  Ross  Cox,  and  a 
partner  namea  John  Clarke,  an  American  who  had 
spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  as  a  trader  in  the 
British  Northwest. 

The  Beaver,  however,  was  not  available  to  be 
sent  round  the  Horn  to  New  York.  It  was  to  be 
used  to  carry  Hunt  north  to  Alaska  to  bring  to 
fruition  Astor's  plans  with  regard  to  the  Russian 
trade.  Astor  had  broached  to  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment his  plan  for  securing  to  himself  and  the 


188  ADVENTUBERS  OF  OREGON 

RuMians  all  the  Pacific  coait  trade  and  «o  «que«- 
ing  out  the  free  trader..    He  would  furnish  the 
Russians  with  suppUes  and  ship  their  furs  with  his 
own  to  Canton.    It  will  be  seen  that  Astor's  aim 
was  twofold:  to  use  the  cooperation  of  the  Russian 
traders  to  drive  other  rivals  off  the  field  and.  at  the 
same  time,  to  make  the  Russian  traders  dependent 
upon  him  —  upon  his  transoceanic  and  coastwise 
ships  and  his  colony  at  Astoria.     Hunt  was  to 
gnil  to  New  Archangel  (Sitka)  to  perfect  these  ar- 
rangements with  the  Russian  official  in  author- 
ity  at  that  port,  bring  away  a  cargo  of  furs,  re- 
turn to  Astoria,  and  transfer  to  the  Beaver  all  the 
furs  collected  there,  and  then  dispatch  the  ship 

for  China. 

The  reports  to  Astor  could  therefore  not  be  sent 
by  sea;  it  would  still  be  necessary  to  carry  them  by 
land     The  duty  was  undertaken  by  a  party  of 
seven  men,  headed  by  the  younger  Stuart  and 
including  Crooks.  Day.  McLellan.  and  a  vayageur 
named  LeClerc.     At  the  same  time.  Donald  Mac- 
kenzie and  the  newly  arrived  John  Clarke,  with  a 
number  of  clerks,  v<,yageur,,  and  hunters,  made 
ready  to  go  inland  to  seek  out  good  trading  sites 
and  erect  forts.     On  the  29th  of  June  both  expedi- 
tions headed  up  the  Columbia  their  two  barge. 


ASTORU  UNDER  THE  NOR'WESTERS  180 
and  ten  canoes,  while  the  cannon  of  Astoria  roared 
a  farewell  to  brave  men. 

Not  far  up  the  river,  poor  John  Day  began  to 
show  signs  of  derangement,  and  Stuart  was  obliged 
to  send  him  back  to  Astoria  in  care  of  some  In- 
dians passing  down  on  the  way  to  trade  at  the  fort. 
The  parting  with  his  old  companion  left  Ramsay 
Crooks  in  great  grief.    He  could  not  forget  his  re- 
cent experience  with  Day  in  the  wilderness,  when 
the  two  men  —  debilitated  from  hunger  and  hard 
travel  and  left  behind  in  the  barren  wilds  of  the 
Snake  canyon  —  had  sustained  and  heartened  each 
other,  refusing  to  separate.     This  is  a  tale  of  nobil- 
ity and  loyalty  and  sacrifice  which  has  never  been 
written.    All  we  have  of  it  is  a  suggestion.     They 
had  no  journal  in  which  Day  could  have  set  down 
that  the  bleak  winter  sunset  found  them  still  in 
their  rocky  camp  of  yesterday  and  without  food 
because  Crooks  was  too  ill  to  march,  and  Day 
himself  too  weak  to  range  the  hills  hunting,  even  if 
he  had  dared  to  leave  Crooks  alone.    And  later, 
when  Crooks  was  able  to  travel  again  and  Day's 
wits  had  wandered  beyond  the  cruel  Snake  country 
into  the  regions  of  more  fantastic  fears,  there  were 
no  means  at  hand  whereby  Crooks  might  record 
how  on  such  a  day  he  had  lost,  under  a  new  fall  of 


190  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

snow,  the  tracks  of  Hunt  and  his  party  which  he 
had  followed  desperately  for  over  a  week;  or  how 
Indians  were  hovering  among  the  rocks,  surround- 
ing the  night's  camp  but  would  not  draw  near 
either  to  succor  or  to  slay  because  of  their  awe 
of  that  supernatural  control  to  which  they  at- 
tributed the  ravings  of  the  starved  and  demented 
white  man. 

It  is  a  general  belief  among  savages,  and  one 
common  among  the  coast  Indians,  that  madmen 
are  under  the  control  of  spirits  and  are  either  to 
be  wisely  avoided  or  treated  with  special  consid- 
eration and  reverence.    The  Indians  bound  for  As- 
toria, to  whom  Stuart  and  Crooks  confided  John 
Day  in  the  last  stage  of  his  dementia,  guarded 
him  carefully  and  brought  him  safely  to  the  fort. 
Day  partially  recovered  and  lived  m  Oregon  for 
several  years  only  to  die  in  those  Snake  Mountains, 
the  scene  of  his  sufferings.    So  came  to  his  end  one 
of  the  two  characters  in  a  lost  chapter  from  the 
book  of  Heroism.    His  name  is  "  writ  in  water "  — 
but  not  unto  perishing.    At  least  two  streams  west 
of  the  Yellowstone  Park  are  known  as  "John  Day's 
River,"  and  the  place  of  his  death  is  marked  by 
"Day's  Defile." 
On  the  29th  of  July   the  combined  parties, 


ASTORIA  UNDER  THE  NOR'WESTERS  19t 
numbering  between  fifty  and  sixty  men,  were 
trafficking  with  the  Indians  on  the  Walla  Walla 
River  for  horses.  The  Walla  Walla  Indians,  of 
the  Chopunnish  tribe,  were  a  hospitable  and  kindly 
folk  and  the  best  equestrians  west  of  the  moun- 
tains. They  owned  large  bands  of  horses  and  they 
equipped  their  mounts  with  crude  high  saddles 
after  the  Mexican  fashion.  They  roamed  far 
afield  and  are  known  to  have  traded  with  the 
Spanish  in  California  from  an  early  date,  exchang- 
ing horses  for  vermilion  and  blankets.  It  was 
among  these  Indians,  then,  that  the  two  expedi- 
tions took  leave  of  each  other  and  went  on  their 
separate  ways. 

Nine  months  later,  on  April  30,  1813,  Robert 
Stuart  and  his  six  men  reached  St.  Louis,  accom- 
panied by  Miller,  the  partner  who  had  deserted 
Hunt  on  the  way  out  to  turn  trapper.  They  had  a 
story  to  tell  of  various  mishaps,  the  most  serious 
of  which  was  the  theft  of  their  horses  by  the 
Crows  in  the  mountains,  which  forced  them  to  con- 
tinue on  foot  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  go  into 
camp  for  the  winter  on  the  bank  of  the  Platte 
River.  In  the  Snake  region  Stuart  found  Miller, 
Robinson,  Rezner,  and  Hoback  —  all  in  hunger 
and  great  distress,  for  they  had  been  robbed  of 


111 

4 

Jit 


'I, 

I' 


IM  ADVENTUREES  OF  OREGON 

their  beaver  catch  and  their  guns  by  Indians. 
Miller  had  tasted  wild  life  to  his  fill  and  now  craved 
the  8avorsofcivilization;butthethreehunters  asked 

Stuart  for  another  outfit  of  guns,  traps,  and  other 
essentials.  These  were  supplied  them  from  the 
caches  above  the  Snake  canyon,  and  they  pitched 
their  tents  again  in  the  wilderness.  Only  three  of 
the  caches  were  found  intact.  The  other  six  had 
been  rifled  of  their  contents  by  Shoshones  led 
thither  by  the  three  v«yageurs  who  had  fallen  out 
of  Hunt's  starving  band  and  attached  themselves 
to  the  Shoshones. 

The  trading  caravan,  which  parted  from  Stuart 
at  the  WaUa  Walla  River,  separated  into  detach- 
ments.   Bavid  Stuart  and  Alexander  Ross  pro- 
ceeded to  Stuart's  Fort  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Okanogan.    Here   Ross   remained   whUe   Stuart 
pushed  north  up  the  Okanogan  and  established 
another  post  where  now  stands  the  town  of  Kam- 
loops,   BriUsh   Columbia,    at   the   forks   of   the 
Thompson.    Far  to  the  east  John  Clarke  built 
Spokane  House  at  the  confluence  of  Coeur  d'Alene 
and  Spokane  Rivers.    Mackenzie  and  Ross  Cox 
opened  trade  with  the  Chopunnish  or  Nez  Percys 
from  a  post  which  appears  to  have  been  on  the 
Clearwater  some  distance  above  its  confluence 


ASTORIA  UNDER  THE  NOR'WESTERS  193 
with  the  Snake.  Other  Astorians  went  far  north 
up  the  Columbia  to  the  Pend  d'Oreille  River,  to 
ply  trade  with  the  Salish  or  Flatheads  and  the 
Kootenays,  as  well  as  with  the  "Children  of  the 
Sun,"  or  Spokanes,  and  thus  to  assist  John  Clarke 
of  Spokane  House  in  cutting  off  trade  from  the 
posts  of  the  Nor'westers  set  up  on  the  Spokane 
and  on  the  Pend  d'Oreille  rivers  by  David  Thomp- 
son the  year  before.  Some  of  the  hunters  who  went 
out  from  Astoria  during  the  winter  of  1812  ranged 
southward  into  Oregon  and  are  said  to  have  ex- 
plored five  hundred  miles  inland  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Willamette. ' 

Between  the  winters  of  1812  and  1814,  the  Asto- 
rians had  spread  their  trade  over  an  area  of  coun- 
try roughly  outlined  by  the  Continental  Divide  on 
the  east,  the  headwaters  of  the  Willamette  on  the 
south,  and  the  Thompson  River,'  New  Caledonia 
(British  Columbia)  on  the  north. 

But,  as  will  be  seen,  it  was  not  imder  Astor's 
banner  that  these  forts  were  to  flovurish. 


'  This  river  ia  the  Multnomah  of  Lewia  and  Clark,  the  Walli- 
mot  of  Irving,  the  WilUmet  and  WyUmit  of  earliest  pioneer 
records.  It  has  aadly  strayed  from  its  Indian  origin  in  the  silly 
modem  spelling  and  pronunciation,  which  mean  nothing. 

•  Discovered  by  Simon  Fraser  and  named  by  him  in  honor  of 
Thompson. 


m  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

The  Astorians  —  pushing  into  unexplored  terri- 
tory in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1812 -did  not 
know  that  war  had  been  declared  by  the  United 
States  against  Great  Britain.    Astor  in  New  York 
knew  it;  and  his  anxiety  was  great.    The  Nor'- 
westers  in  Montreal  and  Fort  William  knew  it; 
and  it  was  never  the  way  of  the  Nor'westers 
to  let  the  water  freeze  under  their  keMs.     The 
partners  in  Montreal  and  the  "winterers"  at  Fort 
WiUiam,  after  hearing  David  Thompson's  report 
on  the  little  colony  at  Astoria,  were  resolved  to 
enter  at  once  strougly  into  contest  for  trade  on 
the  Columbia.    The  War  of  1812  feU  about  oppor- 
tunely for  them;  it  enabled  them  to  color  their 
plans  in  national  and  patriotic  tints.    War  or  no 
war,  they  would  have  sent  a  trading  expedition  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  to  battle  by  their  own 
methods  against  the  Astorians.     But  the  war  gave 
them  cause  to  ask  a  warship  of  His  Majesty.    That 
would  be  the  swifter  wa>  to  take  the  trade  —  and, 
with  it,  Astoria.    So  the  arrangements  were  made. 
Convoyed  by  the  Raccoon,  the  ship  Isaac  Todd,  with 
a  group  of  Nor'westers  aboard  of  her.  was  to  enter 
the  River  of  the  West.    And  another  expedition 
was  to  leave  Fort  William,  paddling  and  portaging 
through  the  maze  of  waters  and  mountains  from 


ASTORU  UNDER  THE  NOR'WESTERS  195 

Lake  Superior  to  the  Columbia,  and  along  that 
great  artery  to  greet  the  Isaac  Todd  in  the  bay. 

Meanwhile  Astor  petitioned  the  American  Gov- 
ernment for  protection  for  his  fort.  In  response  the 
Government  somewhat  tardily  prepared  to  send  the 
frigate  Adams  to  Astoria,  but,  at  the  last  moment, 
canceled  the  order  because  her  crew  was  needed 
to  supplement  the  scanty  force  on  Lake  Ontario. 
And  the  supply  ship  which  Astor  had  commissioned 
to  accompany  the  Adams  was  held  in  New  York 
harbor  by  the  British  blockade.  The  Lark,  how- 
ever, another  boat,  had  sailed  with  supplies  and 
more  traders  before  the  blockade;  and  Astor  could 
only  hope  that  she  would  reach  Astoria  safely 
and  that  the  men  aboard,  joining  with  the  Asto- 
rians,  would  be  able  to  hold  the  fort  until  the  Gov- 
ernment could  send  aid.  He  may  have  felt  that 
his  hope  was  a  forlorn  one,  for  he  remembered, 
doubtless  with  misgivings,  that  McDougal  and 
most  of  the  men  at  the  fort  were  not  only  Cana- 
dians but  old  Nor'westers.  And  Thorn  of  the  lost 
Tormuin,  even  before  war  had  come  to  compli- 
cate further  the  already  complex  ethics  of  men 
trained  in  the  Nor'westers'  school,  had  written  to 
him  more  than  once  his  unfavorable  opinion  of 
McDougal'a  loyalty. 


196  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

McDougal  learned  in  January.   18".  of  the 
NorVesters-  plans.    In  that  month  Donald  Mac- 
kenzie, just  arrived  from  up  the  river   brought 
the  word  to  Astoria.    He  told  how  John  George 
McTavish.  a  Nor'wester  trading  on  the  upp« 
Columbia,  had  dropped  in  at  Spokane  House 
and  had  confided  to  both  Clarke  and  Mackenzie 
what  was  in  the  wind.    And  McTavish  had  drawn 
a  long  bow,  as  the  saying  goes;  he  had  spoken  of 
bombardments  and  wholesale  destruction,   per- 
haps also  of  dungeon,  for  renegade  Canadians  and 
incidentally  of  a  trip  he  himself  meant  to  make  in 
the  spring  to  contest  for  the  trade  at  Astoria. 

McDougal  laid  Mackenzie's  news  before  the 
little  group  of  Astorians  and  after  agitated  d.s- 
cussion  came  to  the  decision  to  abandon  Astoria  in 
the  spring  and  depart  across  the  mountains  for 
St    Louis.    He  sent  out  Mackenzie.  Reed,  and 
another  clerk  named  Seton  to  the  forts  on  the 
Okanogan,  the  Pend  d'OreUle.  and  the  Spokane 
to  inform  the  partners  at  these  interior  posts  of 
the  intended  evacuation,  instructing  them^o  bring 
their  furs  and  goods  to  the  mouth  of  the  Walla 
Walla,  whence  they  would  proceed  together  to  As- 
toria, protected  by  their  numbers  i^^^^\f^^l 
ing  Indians  below.    They  were  to  trade  all  their 


ASTORIA  UNDER  THE  NOR'WESTERS  197 
merchandise  with  the  Walla  Wallas  for  horses, 
keeping  only  their  supply  of  provisions.  Thus  pro- 
vided with  sufficient  horses  to  carry  the  men  and 
the  bales  of  furs  that  now  stocked  the  warehouses, 
McDougal  planned  to  make  the  great  hegira  of  the 
Astorians  on  the  1st  of  July,  the  earliest  moment 
when  they  could  hope  to  be  ready  for  departure. 

Prom  these  instructions  it  does  not  yet  appear 
that  McDougal  was  doing  any  less  than  his  best  to 
safeguard  Astor's  interests,  as  well  as  his  own  and 
the  interests  of  the  other  partners.  The  plan  fell 
through  because  David  Stuart  and  Clarke,  not 
liking  it,  failed  to  make  the  necessary  purchases 
of  mounts  and  smoked  fish  and  meat  for  the  jour- 
ney. McDougal  did  not  become  aware  of  their 
lack  of  coSperation  until  the  middle  of  June,  when 
they  finally  arrived  with  their  furs.  It  was  then 
too  late  to  send  men  back  to  the  Walla  Wallas 
for  horses  —  since  Indians  are  not  to  be  hurried 
in  their  trading — and  to  conclude  the  necessary 
preparations  in  time  to  crass  the  high  mountains 
before  the  descent  of  winter. 

The  journey  must  be  abandoned,  therefore,  un- 
til the  following  year;  and  what  the  situation 
would  be  then  none  could  foresee.  A  new  peril  had 
been  added  by  the  stupid  brutality  of  Clarke  and 


^1 

t; 


198  ADVENTTJRERS  OP  OREGON 

Famham,  a  Vermonter,  one  of  the  clerks.  Thete 
two  men,  while  among  the  Nez  Percys,  had  sewed 
and  executed  an  Indian  for  stealing  a  sUver  cup 
from  Clarke.  The  other  partners  strongly  con- 
demned the  act  —  this  was  not  the  Canadian  way 
of  dealing  with  Indians  —  but  the  mischief  was 
done.  We  shall  see  later  how  the  offended  tribe 
took  their  revenge. 

To  add  to  McDougal's  perplexities,  there  were 
presently  visitors  at  Astoria.  Down  the  river 
came  John  George  McTavish  of  Fort  William  and 
his  retinue  of  voyageurs  and  hunters.  It  was  a 
pretty  demonstration  of  the  old  Nor'wester  spirit 
that  they  made,  as  the  fleet  of  canoes  swung  into 
harbor  beside  the  fort.  The  men  were  dressed  in 
holiday  garb  —  colored  fringes  dangled  from  their 
caps  arid  shirts,  little  bells  and  gay  beads  clinked 
among  the  fringes  of  their  leggings  and  sleeves  — 
and  the  boatman's  songs  of  Old  Canada  sweUed 
from  their  tufoats.  The  brigade  went  into  camp, 
while  McTavish  made  himself  at  home  in  Astoria 
and  was  given  his  freedom  of  the  best  the  fort  had 

to  offer. 

McDougal  is  under  suspicion  for  his  reception  of 
McTavish.  Yet  it  may  weU  appear  that  the  wily 
Scotch  laird  of  Astoria  was  trying  to  play  hb  game 


ASTOBU  UNDER  THE  NOR-WESTERS  190 
as  cannily  as  possible,  seeing  that  his  partners, 
Stuart  and  Clarke,  by  failing  to  buy  horses,  had 
checked  his  best  move.  There  was  certainly  noth- 
ing to  be  gained  by  making  a  foe  of  McTavish,  for 
the  arrival  of  the  Isaac  Todd  and  the  Raccoon  might 
any  day  make  him  the  Chief  Factor  of  Astoria. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  too,  that  Hunt  and 
the  Beater  were  very  long  overdue.  Unknown  to 
the  Astorians,  Hunt  had  changed  his  plans.  Fear- 
ing to  risk  a  valuable  cargo  of  sea-otter  pelts  in 
crossing  the  river  bar,  he  had  kept  on  to  the  Sand- 
wich Islands.  He  intended  to  await  there  the  Lark, 
the  supply  vessel  which  Astor  was  to  send  out,  and 
to  return  in  her  to  Astoria  while  the  Beater  con- 
tinued her  course  to  Canton.  No  chronicler  has 
yet  doubted  the  excellence  of  Hunt's  intentions. 
His  motives  were  always  of  the  best,  but  the  re- 
s-ilts  of  his  initiative  were  never  fortunate.  The 
belief  that  Hunt  and  the  Beaver  had  come  to  dis- 
aster influenced  not  only  McDougal;  even  the  ob- 
stinate spirit  of  Stuart  was  now  cast  down  by  it. 
The  upshot  of  the  gloomy  deliberations  of  the  part- 
ners was  that,  when  McTavish  desired  to  purchase 
some  goods  for  trade,  they  sold  him  not  the  goods 
alone  but  the  Spokane  trading  post.  He  was  to 
pay  in  horses  to  be  delivered  in  the  following 


> 

"'  i 
I'  i 


I 


300  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

spring.  Three  of  the  Astorians  then  requMted  and 
received  of  McDougal  papers  of  discharge  and  en- 
rolled with  McTavish.  The  partners  drew  up  a 
statement  of  conditions,  setting  forth  their  rea- 
sons for  abandoning  Astoria  and  the  outlying  posts, 
and  gave  it  to  McTavish  to  forward  for  them  to 
Astor  by  the  winter  express  which  the  Nor'westers 
sent  out  annually  from  Fort  William  to  Montreal. 
And  on  the  5th  of  July  McTavish  took  leave  of  the 
despondent  Astorians  and  was  borne  upstream  by 
his  belled  and  chantiAg  paddlemen. 

The  partners  decided  to  add  to  their  stock  of 
furs  during  the  winter,  rather  than  to  idle  away 
the  six  months  before  their  departure.  Stuart  re- 
turned to  the  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Okanogan; 
Clarke  went  to  the  Pend  d'Oreille  River;  Mac- 
kenzie, with  a  body  of  hunters,  to  the  Willam- 
ette and  Beed,  with  the  Dorion  family  and  five 
voyageuTt  including  Le  Clerc,  undertook  to  trap  in 
the  Snake  River  country.  McDougal  and  forty 
men  remained  at  Astoria,  not  a  little  apprehensive 
concerning  the  tribes  in  their  immediate  vicin- 
ity. It  was  in  this  summer  month  of  July,  1813, 
that  McDou;  1,  having  exhausted  all  other  means 
of  terrorism  and  diplomacy,  offered  himself  —  a 
more  or  less  willing  sacrifice  —  for  the  safety  of 


ASTOHIA  UNDEB  THE  N0B'1\-ESTEBS  <01 
the  AftorUu  mnd  became   Comcomly'g  «on-in- 
law.    And  exBcUy  one  month  later,  to  the  veiy 
date,  his  .poiMe'i  brother  bunt  into  the  bridal 
bower  with  news  of  a  ship  in  the  offing.     There  was 
great  excitement  within  the  fort.     Was  it  the  I,aae 
Toddt    Or  the  Bemer  returned  after  a  year  away, 
like  a  ghost  from  Neptune's  realm?    Was  it  Hii 
Majesty's  ship  Raccoon  with  guns  to  batter  down 
the  fort?    Nearer  came  the  ship  and  now  the 
watchers  could  see  the  Stars  and  Stripes  at  her 
masthead.    Shouting  with  joy,  they  rushed  to  the 
guns  and  fired  a  salute.    McDougal  was  already 
rowing  out  in  a  small  boat  to  meet  the  vessel. 
As  twilight  closed  in  the  boat  returned  and  Mc- 
Dougal and  Hunt  sprang  ashore.    The  ship  was 
the  Albatross,  chartered  by  Hunt  for  two  thousand 
dollars  at  the  Sandwich   Islands,  after  he  had 
waited  in  vain  for  months  the  coming  of  As'or's 
supply  ship,  the  Lark,  which,  unknown  .o    lim, 
had  been  wrecked. 

Though  Hunt  was  greavly  perturbed  at  the  idea 
of  abandoning  Astor's  vast  schemes  for  the  Pacific 
coast  trade,  he  finally  agreed  to  the  decision  which 
the  other  partners  had  made.  His  first  concern 
was  in  regard  to  the  furs.  He  resolved  to  sail  in 
the  Albatross,  which  was,  bound  to  the  Marquesas 


aot  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

and  the  Sandwich  Islands.  He  hoped  to  charter 
a  vessel  at  the  latter  port  in  which  to  call  for  the 
furs  and  carry  them  to  market  in  Canton.  It  wa* 
agreed  that  if  he  did  not  return,  McDougal  should 
maice  whatever  arrangements  he  could  with  Mc- 
Tavish.  Hunt  confidently  expected,  however,  to 
be  back  at  Astoria  by  the  Ist  of  January.  Even 
so  he  would  have  been  too  late  to  have  a  voice  as  to 
the  disposition  of  Astor's  property,  but  as  a  matter 
of  fact  he  did  not  return  to  the  Columbia  until  the 
98th  of  February. 

On  the  7th  of  October,  about  six  weeks  after 
Hunt's  departure,  John  George  McTavish  with  a 
brigade  of  seventy-five  men  in  ten  canoes  were  again 
wafted  down  the  river  to  the  jingle  of  bells  and 
the  music  of  boatmen's  songs.  He  knew  that  the 
Isaac  Todd  and  the  attendant  warship  must  be 
nearing  Astoria  and  he  intended  to  beat  them 
there.  The  two  Astorians,  Mackenzie  and  Clarke, 
accompanied  the  brigade.  They  had  fallen  in 
with  McTavish  up  the  river  while  on  their  way  to 
the  upper  posts  and  had  turned  back  in  the  hope 
that  they  might  succeed  in  gliding  down  ahead  of 
him  and  so  get  the  news  to  McDougal  and  plan 
their  moves  before  the  Nor'wester's  arrival.  But 
their  chance  never  came  to  leave  that  Nor'wester 


ASTORIA  UNDER  THE  NORWESTERS  MS 
behind  in  the  night.  McTavi.h  bad  given  order, 
to  Us  men  to  sleep  with  one  eye  open  and  an  ear 
to  the  ground.  The  two  Astorians  did  shp  their 
canoes  noiselessly  into  the  stream  one  morning 
before  dawn,  but  only  to  see,  in  the  first  light,  two 
other  canoes  full  abreast  of  them;  and,  with  what 
cordiality  they  could  muster,  they  said  "Good 
morning"  to  McTavish. 

Irving.  Uking  a  long-distance  view,  alleges  that 
McDougal  might  have  dictated  his  own  terms, 
because  the  Nor'westers  were  out  of  provisions 
and  had  lost  their  ammunition;  that  he  might,  in 
fact,  have  made  off  up  the  river  with  the  furs. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  McDougal  now  surrendered 
Astoria  to  the  Nor'westers  and  sold  them,  under 
agreement  duly  executed,  Astor's  stock  of  furs  and 
goods  and  the  buildings  and  boats,  and  all  the 
forts  on  the  Columbia  and  the  Thompson  at  about 
a  third  of  their  value.     Thus  the  rapacious  Nor'- 
westers had  turned  the  trick  not  only  against 
their  rival,  John  Jacob  Astor,  but  also  against  the 
British  Government.     A  month  later,  when  Hia 
Majesty's  ship  the  Raccoon  sailed  into  the  river, 
it  only  remained  to  hoist  the  British  flag  above 
Astoria  and  to  rechristen  the  captured  post  Fort 
George.     There  is    no    record    saying   that   the 


ill 

ii; 


204  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

privilege  of  performing  Uiese  loyal  ceremonies  was 
considered  by  His  Majesty's  officers  as  full  com- 
pensation for  the  loss  of  the  rich  prize  in  furs, 
which  they  had  made  all  speed  to  capture,  having 
been  egged  on  thereto  daily  by  a  Nor'wester  they 
had  aboard,  John  MacDonald  of  Garth.  The 
feelings  of  the  naval  men,  indeed,  were  such  that 
they  held  no  pleasant  teas  or  banquets  on  board 
the  Raccoon  in  honor  of  McDougal  or  MacDonald 
or  McTavish.  And,  if  McDougal's  canny,  un- 
warriorlike  conduct  so  grieved  His  Majesty's  bluff 
and  simple  mariners,  what  was  the  effect  upon 
another  heart  in  Astoria?  Poor  old  Comcomly! 
Having  witnessed  the  bloodless  surrender  of  the 
fort,  the  great  chief  retreated  to  his  lodge,  hid  his 
face  and  his  one  eye  under  his  blanket  and  mourned 
that  his  peerless  daughter  —  she  of  the  proudest 
lineage  and  the  flattest  head  among  the  Chinooks — 
should  have  married  not  a  man  but  a  squaw. 

When  Hunt  returned  in  February  to  find  Astor's 
property  disposed  of  and  the  Union  Jack  waving 
in  place  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  there,  too,  was 
McDougal,  now  acting  as  Chief  Factor  of  the 
Nor'westers'  post  of  Fort  George.  The  dissolu- 
tion of  Astor's  company,  as  provided  for  by  con- 
tract, had  left  him  free  to  rejoin  the  Canadians. 


ASTORIA  UNDER  THE  NOR'WESTERS  e05 
There  remained  nothing  for  Hunt  to  do  but  U 
receive  the  drafu  on  the  North-West  Company 
for  the  sum  of  the  bargain  price  and  arrange  about 
forwardmg  them  to  Astor  by  a  small  party  of 
Astorians  headed  by  David  Stuart,  Clarke,  and 
Mackenzie,  who  refused  to  join  the  NorVesters 
and  who  were  about  to  cross  the  mountains. 
Hunt  then  reSmbarked.' 

In  April  of  that  year  (1814)  the  haac  Todd 
arrived.    The  ship  brought  several  distinguished 
lights  of  the  North  West  Company,  among  them 
aa  autocratic  old  gentleman  named  Donald  Mc- 
Tavish,  whose  rOle  was  that  of  governor  of  the  new 
domain,  but  whose  chief  aim  in  life  was  to  keep  a 
full  goblet  beside  him,  an  aim  rendered  difficult 
by  the  continuous  motion  he  made  for  emptying  it. 
To  assist  him  in  solving  his  problem,  old  Donald 
had  enlisted  the  services  of  a  barmaid  named  Jane 
Barnes,   whose  Hebe-like  skill  and  swiftness  in 
pouring  had  won  his  heart  in  an  English  alehouse. 
This  barmaid  was  the  first  white  woman  on  the 
Columbia.    Her  flaxen  curls,  blue  eyes,  and  ruddy 
cheeks  so  inflamed  the  heart  of  Comcomly's  son 
that  he  offered  one  hundred  sea-otter  skins  for 

■  Hunt  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  in  IStt  wu  ippointed  Post- 
muter  by  Prerident  Monroe. 


I 


;  1 


me  ADVENTUBEBS  OF  OREGON 

the  piivilege  of  marrying  her;  but  the  Governor 
would  not  surrender  his  fair  one.  Let  us  hope  that 
the  old  Governor  quaffed  at  least  one  of  his  many 
cups  nightly  to  the  bold  adventuring  spirit  which 
had  made  young  Jane  Barnes  shake  the  dust  of  a 
sailor's  alehouse  from  her  bare  feet  and  dare  the 
high  seas  and  the  savage  wilds 

For  to  admire  and  for  to  see. 
For  to  be'old  this  world  lo  wide. 

A  little  longer  than  thirty  days  did  Governor 
McTavish  hold  high  revels.  The  journal  of  the 
younger  Alexander  Henry,  who  came  to  Astoria 
with  one  of  the  Nor'westers'  canoe  brigades,  tells 
how  high  ran  the  tides  of  rum  within  and  about 
Fort  George.  From  other  sources  we  learn  that 
in  June  those  tides  came  into  conflict,  so  to  speak, 
with  the  swollen  flood  of  the  Columbia,  when  a 
canoe  bearing  the  Governor,  Alexander  Henry,  and 
half  a  dozen  voyagemrs,  all  rather  more  than  less 
unbalanced  by  their  liquor,  was  overturned,  and 
the  Governor  and  Henry  were  drowned.  When  her 
patron  sank  inappropriately  into  a  watery  grave, 
what  became  of  venturesome  Jane  ?  History  seems 
to  be  mute.  But  there  is  a  rumor  to  the  effect 
that  she  sailed  away  to  China  and  captured  the 


ASTORIA  UNDER  THE  NOR'WESTERS  807 
heart  of  a  magnate  of  the  East  India  Company, 
who  built  a  palace  for  her. 

In  July  of  the  previous  year,  it  will  be  recalled,  a 
party  of  seven  men,  with  Pierre  Dorion  and  his 
wife  and  children,  had  gone  into  the  Snake  River 
country  under  John  Reed's  leadership  to  trap. 
There  Robinson,  Hoback,  and  Rezner  had  joined 
them.    When  David  Stuart,  Clarke,  Mackenzie, 
and  their  party  of  Astorians  set  out  from  Fort 
George  on  April  4,  1814,  to  cross  the  mountains, 
they  expected  to  find  Reed  and  his  band,  inform 
them  of  the  changes  that  had  occurred,  and  take 
them  ac-oss  country  to  St.  Louis,  if  they  should 
desire  to  go  east  rather  than  enlist  with  the  Nor'- 
westers.    The  latter  choice  was  open  to  them, 
because  it  was  a  part  of  the  agreement  between 
McDougal  and  McTavish  that  the  North-West 
Company  should  endeavor  to  find  places  for  any 
of  Astor's   men  who   might  wish   to  remain  in 
the  territory. 

As  Stuart  and  his  companions  neared  the  mouth 
of  the  Walla  Walla  they  heard  a  voice  haihng  them 
in  French.  They  turned  in  towards  the  bank. 
It  was  Dorion's  wife  calling  to  them.  She  had  a 
tragic  story  to  tell.    In  the  winter  she  had  gone 


I  h 


aoe  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

along  the  Clearwater  with  Pierre,  Rezner,  and  Le- 
Clerc  to  a  beaver  stream.    It  was  in  the  Nw 
Percys  territory,  a  five-dayt"  journey  from  Reed's 
post.    While  she  was  at  her  work  of  dressing 
skins  in  the  hut  one  evening,  LeClerc  entered 
bleeding  from  wounds.    Indians  had  fallen  upon 
the  three  men  suddenly  and  LeClerc  alone  had 
escaped  alive  — barely  alive,  for  he  collapsed  as 
his  tale  was  told.    The  Sioux  woman  quickly 
caught  two  of  their  horses,  loaded  her  children  and 
some  food  on  one  of  them  and,  after  binding  up 
LeClerc's  wounds  as  best  she  could,  lifted  and 
roped  him  upon  the  back  of  the  other.     Leading 
the  horses  she  set  o£E  swiftly  into  the  dark  winter 
night  towards  Reed's  trading  post.     Three  days 
later  as  her  keen  eyes  searched  the  landscape,  she 
caught  sight  of  a  bana  of  mounted  Indians  riding 
towards  the  east.    She  lifted  LeClerc  down  and  hid 
him  with  herself  and  her  children  and  the  horses. 
That  night,  a  cold  January  night,  she  dared  not 
make  a  fire.     She  snuggled  her  children  in  her 
garments  to  keep  them  warm  but  the  cold  was  too 
severe  upon  LeClerc,  weakened  from  wounds;  and, 
when  morning  came,  he  was  dead.    On  the  next 
day,  when  the  Sioux  woman  reached  Reed's  en- 
campment, she  found  only  the  horrible  traces  of 


ASTORU  UNDER  THE  NOBWESTEHS  S09 

slaughter.  She  fled  towards  the  mountains  where 
the  WaUa  Walla  cute  iu  way  from  Idaho  into 
Wwhmgton;  and  there  she  camped  in  a  ravine 
under  a  shelter  of  skins  and  cedar  branches  until 
spnng,  subsisting  meagerly  on  the  smoked  flesh  <rf 
her  horses.  When  milder  weather  came,  her  food 
was  nearly  gone.  She  started  out  again  with  her 
children,  crossed  the  mountain  and  went  down 
along  the  river  bank  untU  she  arrived  among  the 
hospitable  Walla  Wallas,  who  took  her  in  and  cared 
for  her  and  her  children. 

The  woman  could  give  Stuart  no  reason  for  the 
massacre  nor  say  by  what  tribe  it  had  been  com- 
mitted.   But.  as  Clarke  heard  her  tale,  perhaps  his 
mmd  reverted  to  the  scene  he  had  staged  nearly  a 
year  before  in  the  vicinity  of  these  murders.    And 
if  so.  he  saw  now  with  different  eyes  the  gibbet  of 
oars  erected  on  the  spring  grass  by  the  beaver 
stream  and  the  Indian,  who  had  been  tempted  to 
theft  -  like  a  child  or  a  magpie  -  by  a  brightly 
gleaming  cup.  bound  and  slmig  in  the  noose  and 
strangled  while   his    tribesmen    looked  on  with 
expressionless  faces  tiU  his  struggles  were  over 
and  then  took  up  his  body  and  silently  went  on 
their  way. 

So  was  savagely  snapped  the  savage  bond  which 


i; 


210  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

had  held  Pierre  aod  his  Sioux  mate  together 
through  harsh  seasons  within  their  tents  and 
through  himger,  cold,  and  the  hourly  peril  of  death 
in  the  wilderness.  The  last  picture  we  have  of 
Dorion's  wife  is  as  a  fugitive  among  the  Walla 
Wallas,  telling  her  story  to  Stuart.  But  ten  years 
later  there  was  a  young  Indian  named  Baptiste  in 
the  brigades  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in 
Oregon,  who  was  the  eldest  son  of  Pierre  Dorion 
and  the  Sioux  woman. 


fi 


CHAPTER  Vn 

THE  KINO  OP  OLD  OBEOON 

the  Treaty  of  Ghent  in  December.  1814.    It  was  a 
peace  without  victory,  and  all  captured  territory, 
places,  and  possessions  were  to  be  restored  to  their 
former  sovereignty.    Astoria  was  not  mentioned 
m  the  treaty,  but  in  negotiations  immediately  sub- 
jequent  a  demand  for  its  return  was  made  by  the 
UmtedSUtes.    The  British  Government  demurred 
on  the  ground  that  Astoria  was  not  captured  tern- 
toiy.  smce  the  valley  of  the  Columbia  was  "con- 
sidered M  forming  a  part  of  His  Majesty's  domin- 
K)ns.  ^^  Eventually,  by  a  liberal  construction  of  the 
term    possessions."  Astoria,  built  by  an  American, 
was  restored  to  the  United  States,  but  the  question 
of  Uie  ownership  of  Oregon  was  left  open. 

Neither  nation  at  that  time  had  any  real  sem« 
of  the  value  of  Oregon  nor  anything  but  the 
vaguest  idea  of  its  possible  boundaries.    Great 
ill 


m  ADVENTUBEES  OF  OREGON 

Britain  did  not  then,  or  Uter,  herself  lay  sovereign 
daim  to  the  whole  region.  Her  attitude  was  less  ag- 
gressive than  defensive;  she  desired  to  protect  the 
British  traders  in  their  rights.  Since  the  question 
of  title  had  been  mooted,  in  1818  a  convention  pro- 
vided that  the  two  nations  should  jointly  occupy 
the  country  for  ten  years.  So  began  the  Oregon 
dispute,  which  in  course  of  time  led  perUously 
close  to  a  third  war  with  Great  Britain. 

Before  the  Joint  Occupation  Treaty  of  1818, 
some  effort  was  made  by  John  Jacob  Astor  and  his 
friends  to  have  the  status  quo  ante  beUum  clause  in 
the  Treaty  of  Ghent  construed  to  cover  his  lost 
property  at  Astoria;  but  his   arguments  could 
hardly  be  convincing  when  it  was  disclosed  that 
the  North-West  Company  had  paid -however 
inadequately  — for  everything  received.    Astor's 
heavy  losses  on  the  Columbia  and  at  MichiU- 
mackinac  through  the  war  made  him  feel  bitter. 
He  never  forgave  McDougal  for  having  sold  his 
furs  to  the  Nor'westers  becau^,  if  the  furs  had 
been  seized,  he  could  have  recovered  their  value 
under  the  treaty.    The  American   Government 
could  not  collect  salvage  for  John  Jacob  Astor.  but 
it  could  assist  him  in  another  way.    At  his  instiga- 
tion Congress  passed  a  law  forbidding  alien  traders 


THE  KING  OF  OLD  OREGON  «I3 

to  operate  within  the  bounds  of  the  United  States 
except  as  mgagSa  of  Americans.  This  law  was  en- 
acted in  April.  1816.  It  served  to  keep  British 
traders  out  of  the  territory  about  the  Missouri  and 
off  the  southern  shores  of  the  Great  Lakes,  but  it 
could  not,  of  course,  touch  the  Nor' westers  in  their 
operations  beyond  the  mountains.  They  still  oc- 
cupied Astor's  forts  by  right  of  purchase'  So  the 
curfew  knell  which  Astor  had  sounded  for  their 
especial  benefit  rang  for  the  most  part  unheeded. 
No  doubt  it  was  discussed  ironically  at  the  sup- 
pers in  the  Beaver  Club  of  Montreal  when  Astor 
appeared  in  that  town  to  buy  furs. 

Astor  was  willing,  even  anxious,  to  send  out 
more  traders  and  ships  to  the  Pacific  Coast  and  to 
begin  his  daring  scheme  all  over  again.  He  had 
a  spirit  nothing  could  daunt,  and  his  dream  was 
worth  any  cost  and  all  effort.  But  he  realized 
that  without  support  from  his  Government  he 
could  not  hope  to  drive  the  Nor' westers  from  Ore- 
gon. Had  he  been  granted  his  request  for  one 
military  post  on  the  Columbia  with  fifty  soldiers 
and  the  rank  of  lieutenant  for  himself,  he  would 
have  proceeded,  even  by  arms,  if  need  be,  to  make 
John  Jacob  Astor  the  master  of  the  world's  fur 
trade.    But  the  American  Government  was  not 


il4  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

minded  to  take  any  step  contrary  to  the  spirit  d 
the  treaty  just  entered  into  with  England.  The 
war,  and  the  international  agreements  resulting 
from  it,  had  made  Astor's  dream  impossible  of  ful- 
fillment. His  affliction,  however,  was  proportion- 
ately less  than  that  of  his  partners  and  employees, 
if  life  be  reckoned  above  money.  In  the  massacre 
of  the  Tonquin'i  crew,  in  the  wreck  of  the  Lark,  in 
the  loss  of  life  among  the  Overlanders  by  hardship 
and  Indian  wrath,  not  less  than  sixty-five  men  had 
perished.  The  partners,  including  McDougal,  re- 
ceived nothing  for  their  two  years  of  toil  and  peril 
in  the  wilderness. 

With  his  Pacific  Fur  Company  dissolved  and  the 
business  of  his  Southwest  Company  —  his  partner- 
ship with  the  Nor'westers  in  the  Mackinaw  trade 
—  suspended  by  the  war,  Astor  was  obliged  to  con- 
fine his  activities  to  his  American  Fur  Company. 
To  establish  a  western  department  at  St.  Louis, 
from  which  to  send  out  his  own  traders  into  the  fur 
country  of  the  Missouri  and  Yellowstone  rivers, 
was  his  immediate  necessity  if  he  wished  to  survive 
as  a  fur  merchant.  Here  was  Astor  hoisted  by  his 
own  petard.  The  Nor'westers,  at  their  rollick- 
ing suppers,  might  well  jest  at  the  statute  of  1816 
which  Astor  had  instigated  against  them;  for  the 


THE  KING  OP  OLD  OREGON         ns 
MisMuri  Government,  influenced  by  the  St.  Loui. 
traders,  used  that  statute  to  bar  Astor  from  St 
Louis  and  to  permit  the  seizure  of  his  goods  and 
furs  on  the  river  on  the  pretext  that,  as  British 
traders  chiefly  formed  the  personnel  of  his  com- 
pany.  his  busin.»s  was  unlawful.    It  was  not  until 
1828  that  he  finally  secured  a  foothold  in  St.  Louis 
Meanwhile  the  Nor'westers.  having  got  them- 
selves into  a  sea  of  trouble,  were  obliged  to  strike 
their  colors.    Their  piratical  activities  in  the  North 
had  stabbed  fully  awake  the  drowsy  old  Hudson's 
Bay  Comp«,y.    The  old  Company  had  suffered 
many  outrages  from  its  rival.    Not  only  were  its 
brigades  robbed  on  the  march,  but  some  of  its  trad- 
i^  posts  were  attacked,  its  furs  and  supplies  carried 
off.  and  Its  servants  wounded  or  killed  by  the 
lawless  Nor'westers. 

It  was  in  1811  that  Lord  Selkirk,  a  Scotch  noble- 
man, purchased  shares  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany  and  acquired  a  vast  tract  of  that  Company's 
lands  as  a  preliminary  step  in  his  scheme  to  fomid 
a  colony  on  the  Red  River.  In  August.  1812.  the 
first  colomsts  arrived  and  set  up  their  huts  on 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Winnipeg.  The  col- 
ony was  soon  beset  by  the  Nor'westers.  Failing  to 
discourage  the  settlers  by  peaceable  means,  they 


:i< ' 


S18  ADVENTUTIERS  OF  OREGON 

resorted  to  violence,  which  culminated  in  1818,  in 
the  killing  of  the  Governor  of  the  colony  and  twenty 
aettlen.  Finally  Lord  Selkirk  binuelf,  armed  with 
powers  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  accompanied 
by  a  number  of  disbanded  soldiers  who  desired  to 
take  up  land,  set  out  from  Montreal  to  the  Red 
River.  He  escaped  the  Nor'westers'  hired  assas- 
sins lying  in  wait  for  him,  made  a  number  of  ar- 
rests at  Fort  Willian),  and  he  sent  the  culprits  east 
for  trial.  Thus  it  came  about  that  John  Jacob 
Astor,  buying  furs  at  the  North-West  Company's 
depots  in  Montreal,  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
in  the  clutches  of  the  law  some  of  the  dare-devil 
gentry  who  had  thwarted  him. 

The  riotous  conduct  of  the  Nor'westers  and  its 
results  were  made  the  subject  of  parliamentary 
inquiry  in  Great  Britain  in  1819;  and  two  years 
later  the  North-West  Company  was  absorbed  by 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  It  was  a  victory 
for  Law  and  Order.  The  Nor'westers  were  strong 
men  and  they  had  done  great  things  in  the  wilder- 
ness. Their  Alexander  Mackenzie  had  followed 
to  the  Arctic  Ocean  the  great  river  which  bears  his 
name,  and  he  was  the  first  Anglo-Saxon  explorer 
to  cross  North  America  overland  to  the  Pacific. 
Their  Simon  Fraser  had  discovered  the  Eraser 


THE  KING  OF  OLD  OREGON         «IT 
River  and  paned  down  ita  roaring  waters  aknoit  to 
the  aea.    Their  David  Thompson  was  the  pioneer 
explorer  of  the  whole  Northwest  and  of  tl  e  Colum- 
bia River  from  iU  source  to  its  junctioi.    vith  th- 
Snake.    Through  such  men  as  these,  u.i !  ,  hrou^h 
violent,  hardy  men  who  knew  no  vii  Lm  save  rour 
age,  had  they  conquered  the  wilds.    Hut  t"  en  in 
the  wilds  they  could  not  defy  tue  law     IWtiiv 
against  that  rock,  their  company  lost  if>  exisrcnce. 
So  it  was  that  the  old  Hudson's  Bay  Conpany 
the  ancient  "Company  of  the  Adventurers  uf  Eng- 
land," esUblished  law  and  order  in  the  Oregon 
country  and  raised  over  the  forts  built  by  the  As- 
torians  and  appropriated  by  the  Nor'westers  the 
old  banner  with  the  letters  H.  B.  C.  in  its  center. 
Hither,  to  Robert  Gray's  river,  came  to  rule  the 
man  who  is  now  known  as  the  Father  of  Oregon  or 
the  King  of  Old  Oregon.    John  McLoughlin  was  of 
Irish  and  Scotch  blood  and  a  Canadian  by  birth. 
He  was  bom  in  1784  in  the  parish  of  Riviere  du 
Loup  far  down  on  the  St.  Lawrence  River.    For  a 
time  he  practised  medicine  in  Montreal.     Later 
he  went  to  Fort  William  as  resident  physician,  de- 
veloped an  interest  in  the  trade,  and  joined  the 
Nor'westers  as  a  wintering  partner.    He  was  not 
of  the  same  quality  as  the  roisterers  who  gathered 


I' 
■f"  ■ 


jil8  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

at  Fort  Waiiam.  The  uprightness  of  his  char- 
acter, the  distinction  of  his  bearing,  and  his  digni- 
fied and  kindly  manner  would  have  found  fitter 
place  from  the  first  in  the  service  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company. 

It  was  as  an  officer  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany that  John  McLoughlin  was  to  come  into  his 
own  and  to  make  for  himself  a  name  imperishable 
in  the  annals  of  Oregon.  He  was  not  quite  forty 
when  he  arrived  on  the  Columbia,  a  man  of  strik- 
ing appearance,  about  six  feet  four  inches  in  height, 
broad-shouldered  —  a  commanding  figure.  His 
piercing  glance,  overhanging  brows,  and  broad  fore- 
head swept  by  a  plume  of  white  hair,  won  for  him 
the  UUe  of  "  White  Eagle  "  from  th  ■;  Indians.  His 
official  rank  was  Chief  Factor,  but  his  subordinates 
called  him  "Governor." 

This  man  was  to  rule  for  twenty  years  as  the 
autocratic  monarch  of  the  Pacific  Northwest.  It 
was  a  rfgime  of  equity  in  trade  and  of  personal 
morals.  McLoughlin  took  to  wife  the  Indian 
widow  of  Alexander  Mackay,  who  perished  on  the 
Tonquin,  and  adopted  Mackay's  children.  He  set 
the  example  of  marital  fidelity  and  compelled  every 
man  in  his  employ  who  had  taken  an  Indian  wife 
to  conduct  himself  as  if  SUte  and  Church  had 


THE  KING  OF  OLD  OREGON  819 

united  them  for  life.  He  was,  indeed.  State  and 
Church  in  Oregon.  His  moral  force  dominated 
white  men  and  Indians  alike. 

In  1825  McLoughlin  abandoned  Fort  George,  or 
Astoria,  and  made  his  headquarters  at  his  new  Fort 
Vancouver,  up  the  river  about  six  miles  north  of 
the  mouth  of  the  Willamette.      Fort  Vancouver 
was  an  imposing  structure,  as  befitted  the  Capitol 
of  a  primitive  realm.    It  was  built  in  the  shape  of 
a  parallelogram.    Its  dimensions  were  750  by  500 
feet,  and  it  was  enclosed  in  a  stockade  of  closely 
fitted  timbers  twenty  feet  high.    Within  the  walls 
the  space  was  divided  into  two  courts  with  a  num- 
ber of  wooden  buildings  facing  on  them.    There 
was  a  powder  magazine  built  of  stone.    McLough- 
lin's  house  stood  in  the  center  of  the  enclosure  fac- 
ing the  huge  gates.    It  was  a  large  two-storied 
mansion  of  logs  containing,  besides  the  private 
rooms  for  himself  and  his  family,  an  imposing  din- 
ing room,  a  general  smoking  room,  and  a  visitors' 
hall.    Some  of  these  rooms  were  decorated  with 
mounted  elks'  heads,  skins,  Indian  cedar  blankeU 
and  baskets,  and  other  ornaments  contributed  by 
admiring  natives.    In  the  court,  at  each  side  of 
the  mansion's  doors,  stood  two  cannon  with  piles 
of  balls.    Below  the  fort  on  the  edge  of  the  river 


280  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

stretched  a  growing  viUage  of  cabins.  Here  lived 
the  married  laborers,  servante,  voyageuri,  and  hun- 
ters; and  here  also,  in  time,  were  built  a  hospi- 
tal, a  boathouse,  a  storehouse  for  cured  salmon, 
bams,  a  mill,  and  a  granary  and  dairy  house. 

CulUvation  of  the  land  from  the  fort  to  the  river 
was  begun  at  once,  and  graduaUy  a  farm  extaided 
on  all  sides  and  along  the  Cdumbia,  about  nme 
square  miles  in  all.    McLoughlin  reaUzed  that  Uie 
forU  west  of  the  mounUins.must  be  supplied  with 
foodstuffs  from  some  point  within  their  own  terri- 
tory, as  the  cost,  the  risk,  and  the  delay  occasioned 
by  the  transportation  of  food  by  land  and  by  sea 
from  the  eastern  coast  were  too  great.    Accord- 
ingly, besides  planting  grain  and  vegetables,  he  im- 
ported a  few  cattle  from  California  as  soon  as  a 
vessel  could  be  procured  in  which  to  bring  them 
north.    In  time  the  King  of  Old  Oregon  could  look 
from  the  upper  rooms  of  his  mansion  over  fifteen 
hundred  cultivated  acres  and  beyond  to  a  grassy 
prairie  where  roamed  more  than  a  thousand  cattie. 
There  were  dairy  farms  on  the  mainland  and  on 
Wapato  Island  in  the  mouth  of  the  Willamette; 
on  this  island  were  the  dairy  buildings  from  which 
products  were  shipped  north  to  the  Russian  posts. 
On  the  south  side  of  the  Columbia  where  the 


THE  KING  OP  OLD  OREGON  Ml 

Willamette  empties  itself  there  also  gradually  rose 
a  few  rough  dwellings,  spreading  southward  along 
the  banks  of  the  smaller  stream.  These  were  set 
up  principally  by  voyageurg  whose  years  of  fighting 
white  water  were  done.  McLoughlin  encoiuraged 
the  old  servants  of  the  company  to  farm.  What- 
ever these  small  farms  produced  above  their  owners' 
needs  found  a  ready  market  among  their  neighbors 
and  the  Indians. 

This  was  the  real  beginning  of  settlement  in  Old 
Oregon,  out  of  which  the  States  of  Oregon,  Wash- 
ington, and  Idaho,  and  part  of  Montana,  were  after- 
wards carved.  The  story  of  this  farthest  "West" 
is  a  romance  of  the  fur  trade.  The  "Wests"  be- 
tween the  Appalachians  and  the  Rockies  were  first 
settled  by  bold  and  restless  men  who  went  into 
the  wilderness  and  battled  with  the  Indians  for 
land.  The  fur  trader  truly  had  been  there  before 
them,  for  he  was  always  the  first  man  to  enter  the 
Indian's  country,  but  he  had  founded  no  settle- 
ments. In  Old  Oregon,  however,  settlement  was 
begun  before  ever  a  white-covered  wagon  crossed 
the  plains.  The  beginning  of  Oregon  City  was  in 
the  first  cabins  raised  and  the  first  garden  patches 
planted  by  old  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany.   Settlers  seeking  homes,  of  the  same  kind  as 


Hi 


u 


S«2  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

those  who  reared  villages  in  Kentucky  and  Missouri 
and  Ohio,  were  to  come  later;  but,  when  they  came, 
they  were  to  find  a  wilderness  already  yielding  to 
the  plough.  They  were  to  see  neat  cabins,  arranged 
so  as  to  outline  narrow  streets,  and  patches  of 
planted  grain,  and  to  hear  the  tinkle  of  the  dairy 
farm  and  the  whir  of  gristmills  and  sawmills.  Here, 
only,  the  fur  trader  did  not  pass  with  the  beaver 
and  the  deer,  leaving  the  land  and  the  forest  im- 
touched.  Even  in  the  story  of  its  first  settlements, 
then,  Old  Oregon  is  still  the  romance  of  the  fur 
trade.  And  it  was  John  McLoughlin's  idea  —  the 
planting  of  these  tiny  hamlets  and  farms  where  the 
aged  voyageura  and  hunters  might  settle  down  to 
safe  and  useful  living,  instead  of  being  cast  forth  as 
human  driftwood  when  their  best  days  as  brigade 
men  were  past. 

McLoughlin's  chief  lieutenant  was  a  young  man 
whom  he  had  brought  from  Fort  William  with  him. 
"Black  Douglas"  was  the  sobriquet  bestowed  on 
this  tall  handsome  youth  with  the  dark  skin  and 
raven  hair.  James  Douglas,  afterwards  promi- 
nent in  British  Columbia,  was,  like  his  chief,  a 
Highlander  bom  far  from  Bonnie  Scotland.  It 
was  in  Demerara,  British  Guiana,  in  1803,  that 
Douglas  first  saw  the  light.     At  twelve  or  fifteen 


THE  KING  OF  OLD  OREGON  iis 

years  of  age  he  accompanied  an  elder  brother  to 
Montreal,  where  he  presently  became  an  apprentice 
in  the  North-West  Company. 

Another  man  in  McLoughlin's  ranks  was  Peter 
Skene  Ogden,  brigade  leader  and  explorer.  Ogden 
also  had  been  a  Nor'wester;  and,  like  McLoughlin, 
he  was  bom  in  Quebec.  He  was  a  rather  short, 
rotimd  man  with  a  high  voice  and  a  merry  round 
face.  He  always  had  a  jest  for  any  one  who  would 
listen  and  was  inordinately  fond  of  practical 
jokes  — characteristics  which  made  him  a  striking 
contrast  to  his  two  dignified  friends,  Douglas  and 
McLoughlin. 

From  Fort  Vancouver  McLoughlin  sent  out  his 
brigades  east,  north,  and  south,  and  directed  them 
to  set  up  new  trading  posts.  He  sent  Douglas  to 
Fort  St.  James,  on  Stuart  Lake  in  New  Caledonia; 
and  forts  were  erected  throughout  that  northern 
territory  as  far  as  the  Stikine  and  Taku  Rivers. 
It  was  a  far  cry  from  these  northern  outposts  to 
another  erected  about  the  same  time  on  the  Ump- 
qua  River  in  southwestern  Oregon.  Centrally 
situated  in  the  interior  on  the  Colville  River,  arose 
Fort  Colville.  This  was  an  important  post,  a  sort 
of  clearing  house  or  bookkeeping  headquarters  for 
the  accounts  of  the  whole  country.    The  clerks 


I   ' 


H^ 


r 


284  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

from  the  lesser  posts  brought  their  accounts  to  Fort 
Colville  to  be  audited  and  transcribed  for  the 
annual  report  which  was  sent  across  country  by 
the  annual  express  brigade  to  Norway  House  on 
Lake  Winnipeg. 

From  Fort  ^'ancouver  went  out  all  the  sup- 
plies for  the  northern  forts  west  of  the  mountains. 
The  ro«te  f^lowed  to  the  interior  posts,  roughly 
speaking,  was  by  canoe- and  barge  up  tke  Columbia 
to  Fort  Okanogan,  thence  by  horse  to  Kamloops 
Lake,  then  by  water  again  down  the  Thompson 
River  into  the  Fraser  to  supply  Fort  Langley  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Fraser.  To  reach  tke  northern 
posts  in  New  Caledonia  the  brigades  usually  took  to 
horse  at  Kualoops  and  rode  the  two  hundred  odd 
miles  up  the  Fraser  to  Alexandria,  where  again 
they  dipped  upon  the  surface  of  that  river  and 
poled  and  towed  upstream  about  150  miles  to  Fort 
(Jeorge  at  the  mwith  of  the  Nechaco,  thence  by 
the  Nechaco  River  to  the  fort  on  Stuart  Lake. 
The  earliest  brigades  traversed  more  of  the  way 
by  water,  with  sometimes  long  and  hazardous 
portages. 

Southward,  the  brigades  imder  Ogden  or  Tom 
Mackay  went  into  California.  And  eastward 
Ogden  led  his  men  beyond  Salt  Lake.    He  was 


ii 


THE  KING  OP  OLD  OREGON  S25 
presumably  the  first  white  man  to  see  Mount 
Shasta  and  the  headwaters  of  Sacramento  River. 
He  discovered  the  Humboldt  River.  He  penetrated 
into  the  desert  of  Nevada.  He  explored  Idaho,  a 
part  of  Utah,  and  tracked  through  the  rugged 
country  between  the  Snake  and  the  Colorado. 

In  the  Rockies  and  east  of  them  Ogden's  bri- 
gades met  and  clashed  with  the  men  of  the  Ameri- 
can Pur  Company  — in  which  now,  as  partner*, 
were  Ramsay  Crooks,  John  Clarke,  and  Robert 
Stuart  — and  with  General  Ashley's  men  from 
St.  Louis,  or  the  Rocky  Mountain  Traders,  as  they 
were  caUed.    Manuel  Lisa  was  dead  and  the  Mis- 
souri Fur  Company  was  bankrupt;  but  Lisa's  part- 
ner, Andrew  Henry,  had  formed  a  new  company 
with  Ashley.     The  Rocky  Mountain  men  paid  the 
Indians  double  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  prices 
for  furs  and,  defying  the  laws  of  their  Government, 
they  opened  a  fountain  of  rum  in  the  wilderness  in 
their  effort  to  starve  Ogden  off  the  ground.     They 
lay  in  wait  for  the  H.  B.  C.  brigades,  or  set  the  In- 
dians on  to  attack  them,  and  pirated  their  furs.    It 
was  war  totheknife.    The  Blackfeet  and  Shoshones, 
profiting  by  the  lessons  thus  inculcated  in  them,  de- 
veloped a  fine  impartiality  towards  all  white  trad- 
ers and  robbed  all  ahke.    One  year  they  stole  180 


iie 


ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 


1  leaver  traps  from  Aiihley's  men.  Ogden  had  hia 
revenge,  too,  when  lome  St.  Louia  traders  were 
caught  by  snow  in  the  hills.  The  Indians,  under 
his  influence,  refused  to  make  snowshoes  for  them 
until  Ogden  had  bought  at  his  own  price  the  furs 
which  they  hi  •  hoped  to  market  in  St.  Louis. 

The  use  j'  liquor  gave  the  St.  Louis  traders  a 
large  adv&r  'lage  over  the  H.  B.  C.  men,  for  Mc- 
Loughlin  prohibited  rum  as  an  article  of  trade;  but 
ultimately  they  suffered  for  it  at  the  hands  of  the 
Indians  to  whom  they  had  taught  the  vice  of  drunk- 
enness. The  Rocky  Mountain  Traders  and  the 
American  Fur  Company  fought  each  other  aa 
bitterly  as  they  fought  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. Twice,  at  least,  Rocky  Mountain  Traders 
who  had  been  pilfered  by  rivals  or  Indians  stag- 
gered, stripped  and  starving,  into  H.  B.  C.  forts 
and  asked  for  succor.  McLoughlin's  men  received 
the  unfortunates  hospitably.  They  sent  one  man 
safely  home  to  the  Mandan  country  under  escort. 
In  the  >ther  case  they  dispatched  a  brigade  to 
recover  the  furs  and  to  lay  down  the  law  to  the 
thieving  tribe.  Though  they  did  not  let  the  trader 
take  out  the  furs,  they  paid  him  for  them  the 
market  price  and  sent  him  also  safely  on  his  way. 

It  has  been  urged  by  some  writers  that  the 


THE  KING  OP  OLD  OREGON  m 

Indians  were  stirred  up  to  violence  by  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  not  only  in  their  attacks  on 
traders  but  later  in  the  massacre  of  American  set- 
tlers in  Oregon.    That  charge  is  weU  answered 
by  the  facts  concerning  settlement  and  trade  in 
New  Caledonia  and  Rupert's  Land  (now  Canada), 
where,  under  the  Company's  rule  continued  for 
two  centuries,  trade  was  carried  on  and.  later, 
settlement  took  place  without  a  single  massacrj 
initiated   by  Indians.    In   Oregon,   McLoughlin 
carried  out  the  policy  of  the  Company,  which  had  a 
fixed  price  for  furs  and  which  meted  out  the  same 
justice  to  an  Indian  as  to  a  white  man.    If  a  white 
man  had  exhibited  an  Indian  scalp  in  Old  Oregon 
he  would  have  been  tried  formally  and  hanged. 

The  fur  brigades  which  went  out  east,  north, 
and  south  from  McLoughlin's  rude  castle  on  the 
great  river  were  smaU  armies  under  tried  captains. 
A  brigade  would  consist  of  fifteen  or  twenty-five 
white  men,  fifty  or  more  Canadian,  Indian,  or 
half-breed  trappers,  and  enough  horses  to  supply 
each  man  with  three.  It  was  McLoughlin's  policy 
to  send  the  wives  and  families  on  the  march  with 
the  men.  The  women  cooked  and  dressed  skins  in 
the  camps;  and  their  presence  acted  as  a  deterrent 
to  those  wilder  spirits  among  the  men  who  would 


iS8  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

have  met  war  with  war  but  for  thia  responaibUity. 
To  the  tribes  the  presence  of  women  was  always 
a  sign  of  peaceful  intent.  The  northern  brigades 
bound  for  the  upper  Fraser  set  off  in  spring  by 
water.  Canoes  and  barges  were  launched  upon  the 
river  to  the  singing  of  the  royageur».  The  horse 
brigades  for  the  south  and  east  took  the  trail  in 
autumn.  A  bugle  called  the  men  into  line  on  the 
day  of  the  march,  and  Highland  pipers  played 
them  off.  "King"  McLoughlin,  in  his  long  black 
coat  and  his  white  choker,  with  his  white  eagle 
plume  floating  in  the  breeze  and  his  gold-headed 
cane  in  his  hand,  stood  in  the  gates  to  give  them 
Godspeed.  In  every  brigade  there  were  fiddlers, 
and  sometimes  a  Scot  with  his  bagpipes  went 
along  to  rouse  the  men  in  a  black  hour  with  The 
Cock  o'  the  North. 

Frequently  McLoughlin  and  his  wife  rode  out 
at  the  head  of  the  Willamette  brigades.  The 
King's  presence  was  dearly  coveted  by  the  men, 
and  Mrs.  McLoughlin  delighted  in  these  excur- 
sions which  broke  the  monotony  of  life  under  a 
fixed  roof.  The  lady  of  Fort  Vancouver  sat  upon 
a  gaily  caparisoned  steed  with  bits  of  silver  and 
strings  of  bells  clinking  along  her  bridle  reins  and 
fringing  her  skirte.    Her  garmenU  were  fashioned 


THE  KING  OP  OLD  OREGON  i«9 

of  the  brightest  colored  cloths  from  the  bales  at  the 
fort  Md  she  wore  "a  smile  which  might  cause  to 
blush  and  hang  iu  head  the  broadest,  warmest  and 
most  fragrant  sunflower,"  while  at  her  side,  also 
handsomely  arrayed,  "rode  her  lord,  King  of  the 
Columbia,  and  every  inch  a  king,  attended  by  a 
train  of  trappers  under  a  chief  trader  each  upon  his 
best  behaviour." 

In  addition  to  the  H.  B.  C.  trade  by  land,  there 
swiftly  grew  up  on  the  Pacific  an  overseas  and 
coastwise  trade.     The  overseas  trade  was  chiefly 
with  dina.     On  the  coast,  vessels  plied  between 
Fort  Vancouver  and  San  Francisco,  where  the 
Company  had  a  trading  post,  and  between  Fort 
Vancouver   and    the   Russian   posts   in   Alaska. 
These  ships  also  carried  supplies  to  the  Company's 
forts  on  the  northern  coast.     The  Russian  Fur 
Company  did  not  like  the  proximity  of  British 
posts,  and  it  induced  the  Russian  Government 
to  rescind  the  right  of  other  than  Russian  ves- 
sels to  navigate  Russian  streams.     The  Russian 
territory  was  held  to  extend  farther  south  than 
McLoughlin's  Fort  Simpson  on  the  Nass  River, 
just  north  of  the  present  Prince  Rupert.     The 
dispute  ended,  as  far  as  the  H.  B.  C.  was  con- 
cerned, in  the  lease  by  the  Company  of  a  strip 


'Hi 


MIOOCOPV   lESOWTION   TiST  CHAlr 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


1^       1^ 

lii     12.2 
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_^  ^PPLJED  IIVHGE     Inc 

^K  '553   East    Mom   Street 

S'lS  »ocfie»ter,   Nam   rorK         14609        USA 

•J^  ("6)   +82  -  0300  -  PtTone 

^S  (^'6)   2ae  '  5969  -  To. 


ill 


830  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

of  the  Alaskan  coast,  lying  between  Cape  Spencer 
and  Fort  Simpson,  for  a  rental  of  two  thousand 
sea-otter  skins  yearly. 

In  this  year  (1839)  the  H.  B.  C.  had  a  fleet  of  not 
less  than  half  a  dozen  vessels  saiUng  at  regular 
seasons  from  Fort  Vancouver.  Among  these  was 
the  Beater,  the  first  steamer  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
The  Beaver  had  left  London  in  1835  as  a  sailing 
ship,  rounded  the  Horn,  and  dropped  anchor  before 
Fort  Vancouver  in  1836.  Here  she  was  fitted  out 
with  machinery  and  became  a  steamboat.  The 
Beaver  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age  in  the  coast  trade 
and  was  wrecked  at  last  in  the  narrows  at  the 
entrance  to  Burrard  Inlet.  There,  until  a  few  years 
ago,  the  hulk  lay  impaled  on  the  rocks  below 
Stanley  Park  and  could  be  seen  by  passengers  on 
the  great  ocean  liners  entering  and  leaving  the 
harbor  of  Vancouver,  British  Columbia. 

McLoughlin  urged  his  company  to  purchase  the 
whole  of  Alaska  from  Russia.  And,  as  the  spirit 
of  revolt  blazed  up  in  California,  he  pointed  out  the 
ease  and  advantage  of  acquiring  that  country  also. 
He  sent  his  son-in-law.  Glen  Rae,  to  San  Francisco 
with  funds  and  with  instructions  as  to  how  to 
gamble  in  revolutions  for  the  advantage  of  the 
H.  B.  C.    This  plan  met  with  disaster  when  Glen 


;  I 

■  1 


THE  KING  OF  OLD  OREGON  tsi 

Rae  met  with  a  certain  beautiful  Carmencita  and 
forgot  aU  else.  That  is  one  of  the  stories.  The 
other  is  that  Rae  picked  as  winner,  among  several 
revolutionary  factions,  the  one  which  was  doomed 
to  be  last  under  the  wire.  He  achieved  nothing 
but  the  loss  of  the  Company's  funds,  and  he  shot 
himself  rather  than  return  and  tell  the  whole 
truth  to  the  "King"  in  Oregon. 

But  whether  his  plans  went  well  or  ill,  Mc- 
Loughlin  did  not  lose  the  serenity  in  which  his 
power  was  rooted.  Not  the  whole  strength  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  could  have  made  Mc- 
Loughlin  a  king  whose  rule  was  unquestioned  if 
his  had  not  been  a  kingly  spirit.  Men  who  had 
brawled  and  roistered  and  known  not  the  name  of 
law  under  the  Nor'westers'  regime  now  stepped 
softly. 


The  daily  life  of  the  King  and  his  courtiers  and 
his  motley  subjects  in  the  feudal  realm  of  Old  Ore- 
gon is  worth  a  passing  glance.  There  is  noth- 
ing like  it  in  the  United  States  today,  nor  was 
there  ever  anything  like  it  during  the  pioneer  days 
m  other  parts  of  the  country.  Nowhere  else  on 
American  soil  have  white  men  gone  in  numbers  of 
a  hundred  or  more  with  a  train  of  employees  and 


M' 


iSi  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

buUt  forts  and  houses,  tQled  fields,  set  up  mills, 
and  herded  cattle  in  the  midst  of  the  red  man's 
country,  to  be  received  by  the  natives  not  only 
as  friends  but  as  rulers. 

The  keynote  of  life  at  Fort  Vancouver  was  work. 
On  the  Sabbath,  men  rested  — and  worshiped; 
but  there  was  no  idling  on  week  days.  A  huge 
bell,  moimted  in  the  court  on  three  poks  and 
sheltered  from  rain  by  a  small  slanting  roof,  rang 
at  five  in  the  morning  to  rouse  officers,  clerks,  and 
laborers  to  the  day's  duties.  At  eight  it  called 
them  in  from  the  fur  houses,  mills,  and  fields  to 
breakfast,  and  at  nine  rang  them  out  again  to  their 
toil.  At  noon  it  sounded  for  dinner,  and  an  hour 
later  for  work  again.  At  six  o'clock  it  announced 
the  evening  meal  and  the  end  of  the  day's  labor. 
The  King  rose  with  his  subjects,  for  McLoughlin 
kept  an  active  supervision  over  the  various  oper- 
ations at  headquarters.  He  was  also  for  some 
years  the  only  physician  in  Oregon,  and  many 
were  the  demands  upon  his  skill,  for  men  who  had 
been  out  in  the  sleet  and  cold  of  the  hills  or  in  the 
long  rains  of  thi  coast  winter  frequently  came 
home  with  rheimiatic  pains  and  fevers. 

We  are  inclined  to  think  of  the  life  in  that  far- 
thest West  as  a  barren  life  for  a  man  of  intellect 


THE  KING  OF  OLD  OREGON  2ss 

and  culture  such  as  McLoughlin.     But  that  view 
M  erroneous.    McLoughlin's  chief  officers  were  men 
of  his  own  stamp.    He  himself  had  studied  his  pro- 
fession of  medicine  in  Paris  and  had  spent  some 
time  ,n  Great  Britain;  and  among  his  comrades 
m  Oregon  were  university  men  from  Oxford  and 
Edmburgh.    Books  and  conversations  on  serious 
topics,  such  as  history  and  international  relations, 
in  which  subjects  these  men  were  well  versed 
were  their  relaxation.     The  brigades  from  Hud- 
son Bay  and  sailing  ships  brought  the  London 
Times,  however  late,  and  also  volumes  of  history 
biography,    travel,    and    agriculture.     The   clas- 
sics could  be  found  on  the  shelves  in  the  Uving 
room  of  the  Big  House  and  the  moderr    ,ets  were 
there,  as  well  as  the  novels  of  Lo.      Selkirk's 
friend,  Walter  Scott.     From  time  to  time  the  ships 
brought  distinguished  visitors  from  the  Old  World, 
and  sometimes  such  visitors  came  overland.     A 
few  of  these  were  men  of  science,  like  Nuttall 
who  had  first  ventured  into  the  wilds  with  Lisa's 
brigade,  and  David  Douglas,  the  Scotch  botanist 
whose  name  was  given  to  the  northwestern  fir  tree. 
Globe-trotters  and  big  game  hunters  of  that  day 
also  -  ne  to  Port  Vancouver.    All  guests  were 
warL        welcomed  to  King  McLoughlin's  rude 


1*^ 


'1! 


ftSi  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

cascle  for  as  many  wetJcs  or  months  as  they  chose 
to  remain,  and  horses  and  servants  for  their 
personal  use  were  assigned  to  them. 

McLoughlin's  chief  interest  apart  from  trade  was 
agriculture.  He  had  engaged  a  scientific  Scotch 
horticulturist  named  Bruce,  who  was  making 
experiments  with  both  indigenous  and  imported 
plants.  Bruce  coaxed  the  wild  strawberry  plant 
to  produce  a  large  luscious  berry  and  the  wild  rose 
to  expand  its  blossoms.  His  apple  trees,  grown 
from  seed,  flourished.  He  failed,  however,  to  per- 
suade the  Califomian  fig  and  lemon  trees  to  en- 
dure the  Oregon  winters.  King  McLoughlin  took 
the  greatest  interest  in  these  experiments,  and 
in  the  growing  season  hardly  a  day  would  pass 
without  a  visit  to  the  frames  and  beds  where 
Bruce  was  matching  his  scienc  against  the  climate 
and  the  habits  of  wild  plant  life. 

Another  point  of  interest  in  the  establishment 
was  the  large  smithy  where  tools  and  machinery 
were  repaired  and  where  hatchets  and  axes  for 
trade,  as  well  as  for  the  use  of  the  fort's  laborers, 
were  made. 

K  in  imagination,  on  a  tranquil  summer  evening, 
we  stand  with  the  King  of  Old  Oregon  on  the  bank 
of  the  River  of  the  West,  we  may  read  there  the 


THE  !  ING  OF  OLD  OREGON  gjS 

prophecy  of  Oregon's  future  destiny  i„  the  world 
of  modern  commerce.  From  the  little  .awmill 
comes  the  hum  of  the  saw  and  the  drumlilce  sound 

ofg^nfmberplanksdroppinguponthewharfjor 
the  Company's  bark  lying  at  anchor  will  carry 
a  cargo  of  lumber  to  the  Sandwich  Isi,nds.    So 
we  have  a  tiny  glimpse  of  the  beginning  of  the 
vast  fmber  trade  of  the  north  Pacific  coast     Far 
down    the  river  is  black-dotted  with  long  high- 
prowed  cedar  canoes,   and   the  air  blowing   up 
s  ream  bnngs  a  sound  of  many  voices  in  chorus 
It  .s  a  sound  too  shrill  for  melody,  but  the  wild 
percmg  'oh-ah  we-ah!"  has  in  it  something  in' 
keeping  w,th  the  blood-hued  flare  across  the  west- 
em  sky  and  with  the  drench  of  colored  light  which 

z:  ri  '1  f" ""'  ""^ '''  --•-'  '--*  -tt 

rl;  I,  ^^\!'"^T  ""^  ^^^"8  their  Song  of  the 
Catch,  as  they  float  down  to  the  bay  to  fish.  In 
their  canoes  are  spears  with  bone  hooks -and 
some  w,th  iron  hooks  now,  since  the  opening  of 
f:  -'thy  -  and  nets  woven  of  cedar  and  g^ass 
fibers.  They  w.ll  drop  their  weighted  nets,  streteh- 
uig  each  net  between  two  canoes,  and  some  of  the 
men  m  both  canoes  will  hold  an  end  of  the  net 
while  the  other  men  paddle.  In  this  fashion  they 
will  sweep  the  waters  and  snare  the  salmon  that 


230  ADVEN'TOREBS  OF  OREGON 

rush  thickly  into  the  river.  The  first  fish  caught 
will  be  oflfered  in  thanksgiving  to  the  Creator  of  all 
things.  After  this  ceremony  has  been  performed 
the  other  salmon  will  be  split  and  boned  and  hung 
up  to  dry  in  sun  and  smoke  on  racks  erected  along 
the  shore  and  on  the  rafters  and  roofs  of  the 
houses.  When  winter  draws  near,  the  dried  fish 
will  be  marketed  to  the  tribes  of  the  interior. 
Thus,  primitively,  these  Indian  fishers  and  barter- 
ers  forecast  the  salmon  trade  which,  in  the  fu- 
ture, shall  contribute  so  large  a  part  of  the  wealth 
of  Oregon.  The  tinkle  of  bells  as  cows  are  driven 
up  to  the  tL..'.'.  ng,  the  young  fields  of  grain  and 
vegetables,  and  the  little  spirals  of  smoke  above 
the  "Jioins  announce  that  this  is  a  country  of  yield- 
ing earth,  a  pleasant  land  for  homes.  These  farms 
and  cabins,  planted  at  McLoughlin's  behest,  not 
only  forecast  the  acres  of  grain  fields  and  apple 
orchards,  the  stock  ranches  and  the  hamlets  and 
cities  of  homes  which  constitute  the  Ore^  jn  of  our 
day,  but  they  mark  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  Old 
Oregon  and  its  King.  In  the  coming  democracy  of 
the  soil  his  feudal  kingdom  is  to  pass  away. 

As  the  King  reenters  his  castle,  the  great  bell  tolls 
the  end  of  a  day's  work.  Officers,  guests,  clerks, 
brigade  leaders,  gather  in  the  huge  dining  room. 


THE  KING  OF  OLD  OREGON  m 

The  autumn  brigades  have  not  yet  departed.  «, 
some  forty  men  sit  at  the  tables  tonight;  and 
there  are  enormous  roasts  to  feed  them. 

In  the  group  immediately  about  McLoughlin 
are  James   Douglas,  Ogden,  Tom   Mackay.  the 
Payette  whose  name  endures  in  Idaho.  Nuttall 
the  botanist  perhaps,  or  a  British  army  officer  on 
eave,  and  maybe  an  American  trader  who  has 
fought  the  fur  battle  unsuccessfully  in  the  moun- 
tams  and  has  been  forced  to  throw  himself  upon 
McLoughlin's  mercy,  such  as  Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth 
witL  whose  little  band  Nuttall  crossed  the  Rock- 
ies.    A  piper  stationed  behind  the  King's  chair 
plays  while  hungry  men.  bronzed  and  hardy  from 
a  hfe  m  the  open,  make  amends  to  their  stomachs 
for  lean  days  in  the  desert  lands  and  for  supperless 
nights  when  they  tightened  their  belts  and  lay 
under  their  blankets  in  the  snow-choked  passes 
The  memory  of  famine  gives  zest  to  the  dinners 
at  the  Big  House.    Between  courses  Ogden,  with 
twinkling  eyes,  cracks  his  jokes.     Then  Tom  Mac- 
kay. the  irrepressible  story-teller  whose  Indian 
blood  shows  in  the  imagery  blended  with  his  hu- 
morously bragging  recitals  of  the  games  he  has 
played  with  death  beyond  the  mountains,  begins 
a  tale  with  his  invariable  formula:    "It  rained  it 


Ts ';   i; 


■1^ 


i38  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

rained!  it  blew,  it  blew!  and  my  God  how  it  did 
snow!"     And  McLoughlin,  pouring  the  one  small 
glass  of  wine  which  he  allows  himself,  laughs.     He 
laughs  as  a  King  may  who  knows  not  one  traitor  nor 
poltroon  in  all  his  realm.   If  this  is  the  evening  of  his 
reign,  there  is  a  glow  upon  it  warmer  than  the  red  of 
sunset  and  kindled  by  a  spirit  stronger  than  wine. 
As  we  conjure  up  the  scene  of  the  evening  meal 
in  the  Big  House,  we  are  reminded  of  illustrations 
we  have  seen  in  books  about  medieval  Scottish 
life.     The  huge  room  with  its  two  wide  stone  fire- 
places, its  bare  timbered  walls  and  log  rafters,  and 
following  the  line  ot  the  walls,  its  long  tables 
weighted  with  steaming  platters  where  twoscore 
men  feast  by  candlelight,  seems  to  be  the  replica 
of  the  banquet  hall  in  the  rude  castle  of  some 
Highland  chieftain  in  the  days  of  Bruce.     Here, 
too,  we  easily  distinguish  the  chief,  for  his  de- 
meanor bespeaks  the  man  who  earns  his  right  to 
command  by  his  deeds.    And,  when  we  consider 
the  points  of  likeness  which  the  clan  system  and 
the  primitive   code   of  the   Scotch   Highlanders 
bear  to  the  tribal  system  and  code  of  the  red  men, 
we  can  understand  how  it  was  that  the  Highland 
factors  and  brigade  leaders  of  the  great  fur  com- 
panies triumphed  over  their  rivals  and  held  the 


THE  KING  OP  OLD  OREGON  <,.< 

Wendsbip  of  the  Indians.     Each  brigade  w,t«  as  „ 
separate  division  of  the  clan  under  a  petty  chief- 
«.d  all  the«.  chief,  were  .ubject  to  the  head  of  the 
clan.     The  Indian,  understood   thi.  .y.tem  be- 
cau.e  their  own  confederate,   were  formed  on 
much  the  same  plan.     With  them.  also,  the  chief 
must  prove  his  right  by  his  de.-ds  -  by  good  deeds 
or  ev.1  deeds,  .f  so  be  th,t  they  were  strong  deeds. 
The   Amencan    traders   they   regarded    only   a. 
traders  and  as  friends  or  foe.,  according  to  their 
mood.     But  the  Scots  were  chiefs  of  tribes,  after 
the  fashion  of  Indian  chiefs. 

The  man  who  sits  at  the  center  of  t'     banquet 
table  m  the  Big  House,  with  two  tall  candles  light- 
mg  up  the  platter  of  roast  venison  before  him  and 
the  Wted  piper  standing  behind  his  chair,  is  not 
only  Chief  Factor  John  McLoughlin.  head  of  the 
white  clans  in  the  western  division.     He  is  Chief 
White  Eagle,  head  of  the  tribe-  ,„d  in  the  gossip, 
story-telling,  and  song  which  enhance  the  feast  of 
vemson  and  salmon  in  the  red  men's  huge  lodges 
this  night.  White  Eagle's  name  and  strong  d^J 
his  eye  and  word  of    ,mmand.  and  his  great 
stature,  are  the  favorite  themes.     Honorable  an  " 
mighty  are  the  tribes  who  have  mite  Eagle  for 
their  chief!  ^        ' 


f. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE   rALL  or  THE   FUR   KINGDOM 

It  was  in  1832  that  Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth,  of  Boston, 
crossed  the  plains  to  give  McLoughlin  battle  on 
Oregon  soil.  Wyeth  duplicated  Astor's  plan  of  cam- 
paign. He  aent  out  a  ship  with  goods  for  trade 
and  with  provisions;  and  he  himself  at  the  head  of 
a  small  party  of  men  set  off  by  land.  For  varioua 
causes  several  of  his  men  left  him  on  the  way,  and 
fortune  did  not  smile  with  unwonted  benignity  on 
the  remainder,  nor  on  the  enterprise  in  general. 
Wyeth  and  a  few  of  his  party  reached  Fort  Vancou- 
ver in  need.  The  ship  was  wrecked.  McLoughlin 
received  the  tattered  wanderers  hospitably  and  let 
them  have  whatever  they  required  from  the  stores 
of  the  Company  in  exchange  for  labor  or  on  credit. 
When  Wyeth  returned  to  Boston  it  was  to  plan 
another  expedition.  He  sent  out  the  ship  May 
Dacre  to  meet  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia, 
and  he  once  more  proceeded  to  cross  the  continent. 


i 


THE  PALL  OP  THE  FUR  KINGDOM    Mi 

•ccompanied  by  a  band  of  young  New  England- 
er.  whom  hi,  account,  of  El  Dorado  beyond  the 
Rockie,  had  fired  with  enthu,ia,m.    This  time 
Wyeth.  ship  put  into  port  safely,  and  he  had 
good,  and  meu  enough  to  warrant  him  in  establidi- 
ing  two  po,t,  for  trade.    He  built  one  po,t  on 
the  laland  m  the  mout^  of  the  Willamette  and 
erected  Fort  Hall,  hi,  headquarter,,  on  the  Snake 
McLoughlin  then  «;nt  Payette  to  build  Fort  Boi,* 
near  Fort  Mall  in  Idaho,  and  the  Indian,  p,^ 
Wyeth  ,  fort  by  and  took  their  trade  t  ,  the  post  of 
the  Company,  who*;  personnel  and      ,thod,  they 
knew  and  trusted.    Nor  would  they  come  to  hi, 
WiUamette  post.    Wyeth.  defeated.  «,ld  out  to 
McLoughlin  and  returned  to  New  England,  where 
he  pro,pered  in  other  branches  of  commerce     Hi, 
venture  as  a  fur  trader  scarcely  cau«Kl  a  ripple  on 
the  surface  of  life  in  Oregon,  but  in  the  East  it 
kmdled  interest  in  the  territory  beyond  the  moun- 
taws,  an  mterest  dormant  since  the  days  of  Lewis 
and  Clark.     Was  Oregon  a  land  for  settlement? 
Men  began  to  ask  that  question. 

But  Wyeth',  excursion  while  it  had  some  effect 
wa,  not  the  chief  cause  which  led  to  settlement.' 
To  the  Salish  Indians  -  wrongly  named  the  Flat- 
he«l,.  becaui*  this  tribe  did  not  pracUce  distorUon 


«4«  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

—  belongs  the  honor  of  having  awakened  the  £a8t 
on  the  subject  of  Oregon.  In  1832,  the  year  of 
Wyeth's  first  venture  in  Oregon,  two  old  men  and 
two  young  warriors  of  the  Salish  journeyed  from 
Flathead  Lake  in  the  mountains  through  the  dan- 
gerous country  of  their  Indian  foes  to  St.  Louis,  to 
seek  out  William  Clark  and  to  request  from  him 
a  Bible  and  a  holy  man  to  teach  their  tribe  what 
was  in  that  book.  The  Salish  had  closely  observed 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  traders  in  Oregon 
and  had  concluded  that  it  was  something  in  the 
trader's  Bible  which  made  the  white  man  a  man 
of  power.  Prom  the  voyageurs  they  had  heard  of 
priests  who  instructed  the  ignorant  in  the  ways 
of  righteousness;  they  had  heard,  too,  through 
other  tribesmen  of  the  "  Black  Robes,"  for  the  tra- 
dition of  these  great  missionaries  of  New  France 
was  a  part  of  Indian  lore";  and  being  themselves, 

■  Of  «1I  early  minionsria  to  the  North  American  Indiani  the 
French  Jesuiti  have  left  the  most  illustrioua  name.  Membera  of 
the  Order  fir.t  arrived  at  Quebec  in  IBM.  They  came  thereafter 
in  great  numbers  and  dwelt  among  the  Indiana  everywhere  aa  far 
west  as  the  Mississippi  and  as  far  north  as  Hudson  Bay.  After 
the  fall  of  New  Prance  (1760)  an  edict  of  the  British  conquerors 
forbade  the  Jesuits  to  add  to  their  numbers  in  Canada,  but  per- 
mitted those  already  in  the  country  to  remain  and  "  die  where  they 
are."  The  last  priest  of  those  who  remained  died  in  1800.  An 
American  reprint  of  their  Rdatiotu,  edited  by  B.  G.  Thwaites, 
waa  published  in  seventy-three  volumes  (Cleveland,  189e-lWl). 


THE  FALL  OP  THE  PUR  KINGDOM    «43 

hke  most  of  the  coast  Indians,  of  a  deeply  religious 

emperament.  they  had  at  last  resolved  to  Z 

— •-  to  Red  Head,  the  Indians'  friendHo 

ml^KTl'"^^  '"'  ^''^'*"»'  enlightenn,  „t 

But,  as  we  have  seen,  many  of  these  traders  were 

some  of  them  might  at  times  be.    Even  that 
Alexander  Henry,  who  sank  beneath  the  Coll 
b«  s  waters  w.th  AstonVs  old  Governor  whTn 

wlr"  "T"^'''-'  ^'^  --.  was  what  h^ 
lumselfwouldhavecalledaGod-fearingman  His 
J-urnals.  as  well  as  the  diaries  of  Cox  rT 
Thomp,  ogden,  and  others,  reveal  a  p;,ford 
fa.th  m  the  God  of  salvation  and  in  the  e^cacrof 

S"*.  T^"°"-    ^^^-ort  Vancouver  on  t^e 
Sabbath    McLoughli.  read  from  the  Bible  anj 

^^edm  the  great  hall  that  was  filled  wi^tJe 
Company  s  employees,  red  and  white.    The  Star 

Man.  trading  with  the  Salish.  had  re.d^;l^ 
-d  expounded  as  was  his  custom  everywhere 

In  camp  when  on  the  march  Ogdenheld  prayers  L 
hu.  journal  tells  us.  and  re«l  from  the  fifble     ?C 


U ; 


II 


S44 


ADVENTURESS  OF  OREGON 


Indian  brigade  men  attended  these  services  as 
devoutly  as  the  white  men,  although  they  under- 
stood not  a  word.  Ogden's  wife  was  a  Salish 
woman,  daughter  or  sister  of  a  Salish  chief  who  was 
his  firm  friend.  In  all  probability  it  was  Ogden's 
Bible  which  gave  the  Salish  their  great  desire  to 
possess  a  copy  of  that  holy  book. 

The  old  men  on  the  mission  to  St.  Louis  were 
two  who  had  known  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1805. 
The  young  warriprs  went  with  them  to  protect 
them.  They  saw  Clark.  He  received  them  kindly, 
but  he  was  powerless  to  give  them  a  missionary. 
Their  sacred  errand  ended  in  tragedy  and  dis- 
appointment. The  two  aged  men  died  in  St. 
Louis  and  the  young  warriors  returned  to  their 
tribe  empty-handed.  But  the  news  of  their  pious 
search  spread  far  and  wide.  George  Catlin,  the 
artist,  was  in  St.  Louis  at  the  time;  and,  so  greatly 
did  the  poetic  theme  of  these  primitive  seekers  of 
the  Light  stir  his  imagination  that  he  wrote  and 
talked  of  them  incessantly.  The  matter  soon  began 
to  be  seriously  discussed  by  the  churches  and  at 
the  meetings  of  the  mission  boards. 

The  first  response  came  from  the  Methodists. 
'When  Wyeth  crossed  the  continent  for  the  second 
time,  in  1834,  in  his  train  went  Jason  Lee  and  his 


THE  FALI.  OP  THE  FOB  KINGDOM    tu 
nephew  Daniel  Lee.  two  missionaries  of  that  de- 
nomination.   By  McLoughlin's  advice  the  Lees 
settled  m  the  growing  settlement  on   the  Wil- 
^mette  and  not  in  the  territory  of  the  Salish. 
No  doubt  missionaries  were  less  needed  by  the 
Salish  than  in  the  spreading  village  and  farming 
community  peopled  by  the  old  ropageurs  and  labor- 
ers of  the  Company  and  also  by  some  sixty  white 
settlers  who  had  straggled  into  Oregon  from  va- 
nous  parts.    These  setOers  had  married  Indian 
wives  and  were  bringing  up  a  flock  of  children 
without  religious  counsel  of  any  sort.    McLough- 
Im  had  already  provided  them  with  a  school- 
teacher named  Solomon  Smith,  a  Harvard  man  of 
Wyeth's  first  band,  who  took  root  in  the  country 
by  marrying  CeUast,  daughter  of  the  Clatsop  chief 
and  began  a  family  and  farm  of  his  own. 

In  1835  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions  sent  out  the  Reverend  Samuel 
Parker  and  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  to  found  mis- 
sions among  the  Indians  of  Oregon.  By  this  date 
steamers  were  plying  on  the  Missouri  River,  but 
the  steamer  which  bore  these  missionaries  got 
the  worst  of  an  argument  with  snags  or  sand  bars 
and  so  came  to  a  halt  at  Liberty,  Mbsouri. 
From  this  point  the  missionaries  and  the  party 


i 


^)!!    'i 


1 1 


846  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

of  traders  under  whose  escort  they  were  to  pro- 
ceed to  Oregon  took  horse  and  pushed  overland 
through  the  valley  of  the  Platte,  following  that 
route  first  made  by  the  bufltalo,  then  appropriated 
by  the  Indians  and  the  fur  traders,  and  now  known 
to  history  as  the  Oregon  Trail. ' 

At  one  of  their  encampments  in  that  country 
of  the  Teton  Range  —  lying  between  the  headwaters 
of  the  Platte  and  Green  rivers  on  the  east  and  the 
headwaters  of  the  Snake  on  the  west,  where  As- 
tor's  Overlanders  wandered  long  and  helplessly,  and 
where  later  Ogden's  brigades  clashed  with  the  trad- 
ers of  St.  Louis  —  Parker  and  Whitman  met  bands 
of  Salish  and  Nez  Perces.  These  Indians  evinced 
so  keen  a  desire  for  religious  instruction  that 
Whitman  decided  to  turn  back  with  an  east-going 
brigade  and  bring  more  missionaries.  Parker  con- 
tinued the  journey  over  the  mountains,  guided  by 
a  party  of  the  eager  Salish.  These  Indians,  says 
Parker  —  who  kept  a  journal  —  "are  very  kinu 
to  each  other,  and  if  one  meets  with  any  disas- 
ter, the  others  will  wait  and  assist  him."  They 
had  not  proceeded  far  when  they  met  a  laige 

■  Father  de  Smet  wys  that  the  Indians  called  thii  trail,  marked 
deep  by  the  wagon  wheels  of  the  settlers,  the  "Great  Medicine 
Road  of  the  Whites." 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  PUB  KINGDOM  3i7 
band  of  Nez  Percys  coming  to  greet  the  holy  man. 
»^va„cu.g  .n  columns,  the  warriors  leading  Td 
the  women  and  children  in  the  rear  -  all  sfnlg 

S'tTm:!^.""^— — X 
«e2r;cSer;t:h:r"'^^T''"'- 

.  ,  ^  .  '•  ''"™er  pitched  camp  so  that  he 

nugh  impart  spiritual  food  to  the  several  hundred 
pnm.t.ve  souls  who  thus  sought  him  in  the  wilder 

r;  ''\^"'''=^«'*"«'—ber  of  sermons. 
They  can  have  understood  ve^.  little  if  anything 
of  what  he  said,  bu*  he  preached  from  the  Bible 
-d  so  theyj.,      ,,^,  ^.^  ^^^^^  ^^^^  ^  jWe 

m  ghty;  and  they  were  happy.    A  buffalo  hu^t 
followed,  and  Parker  was  presented  with  a  la"e 

quanUWcuredmeatandtwenty  buffalo  tongue! 
A  hundred  and  fifty  Indians  remained  with^^ 
and  brought  him  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Companv's 
^st  at  the  mouth  of  the  Walla  Walla.  HeJ^Tey 
eft  hnn  and  returned  over  the  mountains  to  r^^ 
jomthejr  hunters.  The  officer  at  the  post  se^ 
Parker  down  the  river  to  Fort  Vancouv^  wh"L 
McLougUm  made  him  welcome 

ah!T!r  "^'"f  *^'  "'*  °^  ^**°"*  »"d  the  tribes 
ab^themouthoftheriverandsawforhimselfwhy 
McLoughhn  had  quitted  Astoria  and  had  moveJ 


ii 


its 


ADVENTURESS  OF  OREGON 


■'  1?  i 


his  trading  headquarters  sixty  miles  up  the  Co- 
lumbia. He  found  the  Chinooks  besotted  and  de- 
graded with  liquor  from  the  trading  vessels  which 
put  into  Baker's  Bay  from  time  to  time.  Be- 
fore the  founding  of  Astoria  the  Chinooks,  under 
the  stem  governance  of  Comcomly,  were  sober 
Indians.  It  is  even  recorded  that  the  old  chief 
once  strongly  reprimanded  his  son-in-law,  Mc- 
Dougal,  for  giving  rum  to  Comcomly's  son,  caus- 
ing him  to  return; drunken  to  the  Chinook  village 
and  to  make  a  shameful  spectacle  of  himself 
before  his  tribesmen.  But  during  the  reign  of 
the  Nor'westers,  it  seems  that  the  Indians  lived 
in  a  state  of  debauch,  continued  since  then  by 
means  of  liquor  from  the  American  trading  vessels. 

In  the  following  spring  Parker  traveled  through 
the  valley  of  the  Walla  Walla,  the  Snake,  and  the 
Spokane  rivers,  noting  favorable  sites  for  missions, 
and  late  in  the  year  (1836)  he  set  sail  from  Fort 
Vancouve..  After  an  absence  of  two  years  he  re- 
turned to  his  home,  at  Ithaca,  New  York,  and 
immediately  published  his  Journal  of  an  Exploring 
Tour  Beyond  the  Rocky  MoutUaint.  This  made  an- 
other wind  to  fan  the  rising  interest  of  easterners 
concerning  Oregon. 

The  Macedonian  cry  from  the  Salish  country 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  FUR  KINGDOM    S4» 
was  not  disregarded  by  the  King  of  Old  Oregon. 
If  the  savages  themsel/es  were  petitioning  for  a 
teacher  of  the  Scriptures,  it  began  to  appear  that 
the  white  men  in  Oregon  should  also  make  request. 
McLoughlin  wrote  to  his  superiors  in  London 
asking  for  a  chaplain  to  be  sent  to  Fort  Vancouver 
without  delay.    In  due  course  a  minister  of  the 
Church  of  England  arrived,  accompanied  by  his 
wife.    This  lady  was  the  second  white  woman  on 
the  Columbia  and.  as  chance  would  have  it,  her 
name  also  was  Jane  and  her  last  initial  B.    The 
nime  of  this  couple  in  fact  was  Beaver  —  a  circum- 
stance which  was  merrily  hailed  as  a  good  omen 
among  the  fur  traders,  since  beaver  was  the  stand- 
ard coin  of  the  fur  realm.    But,  alas.  Jane  Beaver 
was  as  inappropriate  in  her  way  to  wilderness  life 
as  ever  Jane  Barnes  had  been.    Mrs.  Beaver  re- 
fused to  associate  in  any  way  with  the  Chief  Fac- 
tor's wife,  or  with  the  wives  of  his  officers;  and 
Beaver  himself  pubUcly  denounced  McLoughlin 
and  Douglas  for  the  iniquity  of  mairiages  legal- 
ized only  by  the  common  law  of  the  wilderness. 

Douglas's  wife.  Nelia  Connolly,  the  daughter 
of  a  white  man.  was  able  to  understand  the  words 
that  were  unintelligible  to  the  Cree  wife  of  Mc- 
Loughlin. and  the  scorn  and  condemnation  of  the 


I' 


iir 


UO  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

Engliahwoman  bewUdered  her  and  struck  her  with 
grief.  Douglas,  in  temperament  the  opposite  erf 
his  chief,  cold,  cutting,  and  doubly  punctilious  in 
anger,  conveyed  his  impressions  of  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Beaver  to  that  gentleman  and  insisted  on  the 
immediate  performance  of  the  marriage  ceremony. 
Not  so  McLoughlin.  That  insulted  monarch  flew 
into  a  rage  and  drubbed  the  over-zealous  moralist 
from  the  fort  with  his  gold-headed  cane.  And,  re- 
fusing to  consider  any  rite  performed  by  Beaver 
a  sacred  me,  he  would  not  submit  to  a  ceremony 
at  his  hands  but  peremptorily  ordered  Douglas, 
lately  equipped  with  powers  as  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  to  unite  him  legally  to  the  moiher  of  his 
children. 

McLoughlin,  when  his  fury  had  passed,  made  pub- 
lic apology  for  his  action  with  the  cane,  fearing  that 
he  had  done  what  might  diminish  the  clergyman's 
possible  influence  for  good  in  the  community.  But 
Beaver  found  himself  unable  to  accept  the  apology, 
and  as  soon  as  possible  he  and  his  lady  sailed  away 
from  that  jungle  of  iniquity  —  and  ferocity.  They 
had  contrived,  with  the  best  intentions,  to  do  no 
small  harm  during  their  brief  visit.  Ritualism  and 
convention  had  met  with  the  primal  and  the  self- 
lawed,  and  the  test  had  been  too  severe  for  both. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  FUR  KINGDOM    iSl 
Misunderstanding  was  mutual  and  perfect.    The 
Beavers,  from  their  sheltered  English  parish,  where 
conduct  was  ordered  in  advance  and  where  no 
greater  danger  threatened  them  than  being  caught 
out  in  the  rain  without  their  galoshes,  could  not 
even  guess  at  the  nature  of  the  feelings  they  had 
stirred  ?nd  outraged  in  the  husbands  of  the  In- 
dian women  at  Fort  Vancouver.  If  they  had  known 
how  to  listen,  they  could  have  heard  from  those 
husbands  tales  of  feminine  heroism  which  might 
have  enlightened  them,  teles  of  how  death  from 
some  wrath  of  Nature  or  from  human  foe  had 
missed  its  mark  at  the  man  only  because  of  the 
woman's  spontaneous  reaction  to  her  creed  which 
declared  her  own  life  to  be  nothing  outside  his 
service.    Ogden  has  recorded  two  occasions  when 
the  Salish  woman  saved  his  life  and  one  gal- 
lant episode  when  she  sprang  to  horse,  pursued  the 
party  of  rival  traders  and  Indians  who  had  seized 
his  furs,  dashed  into  the  caravan,  cut  out  the  pack 
horses  and  stampeded  them  back  to  her  husband's 
camp  under  the  leveled  rifles  of  his  foes.    And 
sixteen-year-old  Nelia  Connolly  had  leaped  to  the 
place  of  danger  before  her  young  husband,  as  hos- 
tile Indians  rushed  upon  him  in  the  lonely  north- 
ernmost fort  in  New  Caledonia.    Such  memories 


tH  ADVENTDRERS  OP  OREGON 

M  theie  gave  fire  to  the  fury  of  the  King;  for  wm 
it  not  he  who  had  iwued  the  ukaie  that,  if  any 
man  dealt  unfaithfully  by  an  Indian  woman,  he 
could  not  remain  in  the  service  of  the  Company 
or  in  Oregon? 

In  18S6  Marcus  Whitman  and  his  bride,  accom- 
panied by  Henry  Spalding  and  his  wife  and  W.  H. 
Gray,  a  lay  helper,  arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver. 
Mrs.  Whitman  and  Mrs.  Spalding  were  the  first 
white  women  to  cross  the  continent  to  Oregon.' 
The  missionaries  hftd  come  by  covered  wagon  from 
Fort  Laramie  to  Fort  Boisi,  where  Payette  had 
i'Ut  them  in  the  charge  of  Tom  Mackay's  brigade, 
then  about  to  start  homewards.  They  were  re- 
ceived with  enthusiasm  and  every  offer  of  service 
was  made  to  them  by  white  men  and  Indians  alike, 
so  that  their  passage  from  Boisi  to  Walla  Walla 
and  down  the  Columbia  was  like  a  triumphal  pro- 
cession. Word  had  been  sent  ahead  to  McLoughlin, 
and,  when  the  Whitmans  and  Spaldings  landed, 
they  found  the  King  and  his  court  on  the  bank  to 
welcome  them. 

On  McLoughlin's  advice.  Whitman  went  to  the 
Cayuse  Indians  about  five  miles  west  of  Walla 

•  Ten  yem  eulier  Mtnuel  Liw'i  wife  hid  eroued  the  pUiu 
with  her  biuband  to  hi«  fort  >t  the  month  of  the  Bi(  Hora. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  FUR  KINGDOM  us 

Walla,  and  Spalding  established  himself  at  Lapwai 
on  tha  Clearwater  among  the  Nez  Percys.  While 
waiting  for  their  new  dwellings  to  be  made  ready 
for  them,  ^e  two  young  women  remained  in  the 
Big  House  and  undertook  to  give  instruction  to 
McLoughlin's  children. 

In  1838  McLoughlin  went  to  London  to  confer 
with  his  superiors.    From  all  signs,  as  he  read  them, 
the  Treaty  of  Joint  Occupation  would  soon  cease 
to  operate.    By  the  terms  of  this  treaty,  signed 
m  1818.  Great  Britain  and  the  United  Sutes  had 
agreed  that  the  subjects  of  both  governments 
should  have  equaJ  rights  within  the  territory  west 
of  the  Rockies  for  ten  years.     The  treaty  left  the 
question  of  title  to  this  region  in  abeyance.     Ten 
years  later  the  time  was  extended  indefinitely, 
with  a  clause  providing  that  the  agreement  could 
be  terminated  by  either  party  on  twelve  months- 
notice.    A  second  decade  had  now  run  its  course, 
and  there  was  little  disposition  on  either  side  to 
continue  the  agreement  much  longer.    In  the  notes 
exchanged  by  the  two  Governments  prior  to  1828. 
the  United  States  had  expressed  a  willingness  to 
consider  an  adjustment  of  the  boundary  at  the 
forty-ninth  parallel  all  the  way  to  the  Pacific. 
But  the  British  Government,  pointing  out  that  this 


!l^ 


fM  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

line  would  cut  off  the  aouthern  end  of  Vancouver 
Iriaad,  would  not  consent  and  presently  luggetted 
that  the  line  should  be  drawn  down  through  the 
middle  of  the  Columbia  River,  leaving  the  navi- 
gation of  that  stream  free  to  both  parties.  This 
suggestion  the  United  States  rejected. 

The  workings  of  diplomacy  were  watched  closely 
by  the  officials  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in 
England,  and  very  probably  those  officials  made 
suggestions  to  the  British  Government.  At  all 
events,  they  seem  to  have  thought  it  likely  that  the 
Columbia  would  ultimately  be  decided  upon  as  the 
boundary,  for  Fort  Vancouver  was  built  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  river  and  the  brigade  leaders 
who  ranged  south  of  the  river  were  instructed  not 
to  conserve  the  game  but  to  follow  up  all  the  beaver 
streams,  and,  in  short,  to  trap  out  this  part  of  the 
country.  Early  during  his  reign  at  Fort  Van- 
couver, McLoughlin  became  convinced  that  the 
country  south  of  the  Columbia,  today  the  State  of 
Oregon,  would  soon  attract  settlers,  and  that,  what- 
ever the  diplomats  might  decide,  the  territory 
would  belong  in  the  end  to  the  nation  which  colo- 
nized it.  It  was  with  these  s»>veral  thoughts  in  his 
mind  that  he  sent  the  old  servants  of  the  Com- 
pany into  the  Willamette  Valley  to  settle.    There 


m 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  FUB  KINGDOM    us 

•ettlement  could  not  interfere  with  tlie  fur  trade 
Md.  later,  it  might  hold  the  territory  for  Great 
Bntain.  McLoughlin  wiahed  to  ice  all  the  wett- 
ern  country  from  Mexico  to  the  Arctic  Ocean  under 
hia  nation's  flag. 

But  now  the  Americana  were  coming  in;  and.  if 
they  settled  the  countrj .  the  wme  principle  would 
apply  m  their  ca«>.    So  far  he  had  been  unable  to 
mdur,  the  Company's  officers  in  London  tu  un- 
dertake colonizaUon  in  Oregon  as  they  had  done 
on  the  Red  River  in  Rupert's  Land.    Sir  George 
Simpson,  the  Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, ridiculed  the  idea  that  On?gon  would  ever 
be  a  Mecca  of  overland  migration.    He  thought 
the  difficulties  too  great  and  also  that  Oregon  was 
not  a  farming  country.    But  the  old  King  knew 
better.    Therefore  he  went  to  England  to  declare 
hw  views  in  person  before  the  directors  of  the 
Company  and  to  plead  for  action. 

His  visit  was  not  successful.  The  Company  did 
indeed,  agree  to  send  out  a  few  men  to  farm  under 
Oie  grant  of  a  new  company  to  be  formed  and  to 
bo  called  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company 
but  they  made  Hght  of  his  prognostications  in  gen- 
eral and  rather  let  him  feel  that  he  was  taking  too 
much  apon  himself  in  giving  advice. 


1^ 


iSO  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

McLoughlin  reached  home  towards  the  end  of 
18S9.  Immediately  he  was  confronted  by  a  new 
problem  created  by  the  influx  of  missionaries  and 
one  which  he  could  now  do  little  toward  solving. 
In  the  year  before,  Jason  Lee  had  gone  east  for  more 
helpers  and  had  returned  by  ship  bringing  with 
him  more  missionaries  and  their  families  and  some 
settlers.  It  had  been  McLoughlin's  policy  to  advise 
each  missionary  to  seek  a  separate  field  where  his 
activities  would  not  overlap  those  of  any  other  re- 
ligious teacher.  Creeds  were  unimportant  to  him, 
as  indeed  they  were  to  the  other  sons  of  the  wilder- 
ness. And  because  it  was  not  creeds  but  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  the  Commandments  which  mat- 
tered to  man,  he  had,  five  years  since,  appointed 
Jason  Lee,  the  Methodist,  to  the  settleLient  of 
French-Canadian  Catholics  on  the  Willamette,  for 
as  yet  no  priest  of  their  own  Church  had  entered 
Oregon.  There  Jason  Lee  performed  marriages 
and  baptized  children.  Whitman  and  Spalding, 
McLoughlin  had  sent  to  different  tribes,  so  that 
each  tribe  should  have  but  one  white  leader  of  light 
and  thus  should  not  be  confused  by  a  divided  au- 
thority. But  the  missionaries,  some  with  their 
families,  who  had  come  on  Jason  Lee's  ship  were 
settling  wherever  the  soil  looked  most  promising 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  FUR  KINGDOM    857 
for  wheat.     Moreover,  two  Catholic  missionaries. 
Blanchet  and  Demers.  had  arrived  from  the  Red 
River  and  had  begun  their  labors  on  the  Willamette 
and  at  Fort  Walla  among  Whitman's  Cayuses 
Father  Pierre  Jean  de  Smet,  a  Belgian  Jesuit  from 
St.  Louis,  came  in  1840  and  settled  among  the 
Salish.    Other  priests  quickly  followed  and  toured 
the  Indian  territory,  preaching  and  baptizing;  and 
there  were  presently  in  Oregon  about  sixty  mission- 
aries, itmerant  and  stationary.    More  settlers  came 
and  also  some  American  traders.    The  latter  were 
not  attached  to  the  American  fur  companies  but 
were  small  peddlers;  and  the  chief  article  of  trade 
on  their  pack  horses  was  liquor.    When  the  brigade 
leaders  came  in  next  spring  (1840)  they  reported  to 
McLoughlin  that  the  Indians  were  uneasy  because 
so  many  people  were  coming  in,  and  were  already 
sorry  for  their  invitation  to  the  missionaries. 

Because  of  later  happenings,  it  is  worth  while  to 
understand  the  Indian  point  of  view.  With  the 
Indians  of  the  North  Pacific  territory,  who  lived 
either  on  the  seashore  or  along  the  larger  rivers 
mland,  water  was  not  uncommonly  used  in  some 
of  their  religious  rites,  because  chiefly  on  the 
waters  and  by  the  products  of  the  waters  they 
lived.    Therefore  they  took  very  kindly  to  the  rite 


ass 


ADVENTCBERS  OF  OREGON 


of  baptism.  When  Protestant  and  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries  wrote  in  their  diaries  that  they  had  bap- 
tized scores  of  eager  Indians  daily,  they  were  not 
exaggerating.  For  when  the  Indians  learned  that 
near  by  there  was  a  white  holy  man  who  could  per- 
form a  Strong  Magic  with  water,  they  traveled  in 
droves  to  partake  of  the  blessing.  So  far  so  good. 
But  presently  tb>-y  were  told  that  the  baptism 
they  had  received  so  happily  was  impotent  to  save 
them.  According  to  Indian  logic  that  meant  a 
bad  magic,  and  it  might  harm  them  very  much — by 
bringing  about  a  fish  famine,  for  instance.  Thus 
did  they  interpret  the  white  man's  dispute  of 
creeds;  and  dissensions  arose  among  themselves  as 
to  the  respective  merits  of  the  missionaries.  And 
each  year  they  saw  more  white  men  coming  in  and 
taking  up  their  land,  for  which  they  were  paid 
nothing.  They  began  to  be  very  suspicious  as  to 
the  true  purpose  of  the  white  holy  man's  magic. 
Add  to  the.se  perplexed  questionings  the  incite- 
ment of  the  free  trader's  whiskey,  and  we  have  the 
fundamental  causes  of  the  Cayuse  War  which  was 
to  break  forth  within  a  decade.  Tragedy  was  in- 
evitable, although  most  of  the  men  and  women 
who  taught  the  Gospel  in  Oregon  were  devoted 
spirits,  willing  not  only  to  live  their  lives  among  the 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  TOR  KINGDOM  259 
Indians  but  to  gue  their  lives  for  the  creeds  they 
taught  and  for  the  salvation  of  their  red-skinned 
brothers. 

McLoughlin  now  was  between  two  fires -his 
Company's  displeasure  and  the  animus  of  the  new 
settlers.    Sir  George  Simpson  came  out  in  1841 
and.  on  looking  over  the  books  of  the  Company  at 
Fort  V  acouver,  was  furious  because  of  the  credit 
giventotheAmericans.   McLoughlin  retorted  that 
he  would  not  allow  these  men  to  starve.    What 
most  stirred  Simpson's  anger  probably  was  the 
proof  before  his  eyes,  in  the  tents  and  cabins,  that 
McLoughlm  s  prophecies  of  settlement  -  which  he 
had  scouted -had  been  trueones.     On  theother 
hand  the  settlers  and  even  some  of  the  mission- 
aries, whom  McLoughlin  had  received  kindly  an,^ 
had  generously  helped,  distrusted  him.   They  did 
not  understand  the  old  King  and  his  swav  over  Ore- 
gon.  Twoerasofcivilization.historicallymorethan 
a  hundred  years  apart,  were  touching  and  clashing 
m  Oregon  -  the  eras  of  old  feudalism  and  of  mod- 
em republicanism.     Those  who  so  readily  vilified 
Mclx,ughhn  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  did 
not  kBow  that,  during  these  few  years,  only  the  old 
Kings  fiat  held  the  Indians  back  from  slaughter. 
They  did  not  know  that  a  native  deputation  had 


U' 


860  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

waited  upon  McLoughlin  and  requested  permission 
to  wipe  out  the  strangers  who  were  speaking  evil 
words  against  him  —  nor  that  these  red-skinned 
deputies  had  been  driven  from  Fort  Vancouver  in 
disgrace,  with  the  threat  of  ostracism  from  the 
Company's  trade  and  from  all  its  benefits  if  they 
lifted  a  finger  against  the  newcomers. 

In  1843  Marcus  Whitman,  returning  to  Oregon 
from  a  visit  to  the  East  in  connection  with  the  af- 
fairs of  the  mission,  fell  in  on  the  way  with  a  cara- 
van of  over  nine  hundred  settlers  and  guided  them 
across  the  mountains.   The  men  were  accompanied 
by  their  wives  and  families  and  all  their  worldly 
goods.  The  Great  Migration  into  Oregon  had  begun. 
Winter  caught  the  caravan  in  the  mountains. 
Through  snow  and  sleet  the  immigrants  straggled 
to  the  bank  of  the  Columbia.    Here  they  built  rafts 
to  float  them  down.    And  on  one  of  these  rafts,  as 
it  shot  through  the  Dalles  under  the  pelting  of  rain, 
a  baby  was  bom.    It  was  night  and  stormy  with 
wind  and  rain  when  the  first  of  the  fleet  neared  Fort 
Vancouver.  McLoughlin  ordered  his  men  at  the  fort 
to  turn  out  to  aid  the  rain-soaked  pilgrims  in  moor- 
ing the  rafts  and  in  landing  the  household  goods. 
Bales  of  blankets  were  carried  down.    All  night  the 
clerks  over  their  books  made  entries  of  supplies 


THE  PALL  OP  THE  FUR  KINGDOM    m 
^toutbyasmaUarmyofrunners.    McLoughlin 

W      :  "r "  ■"'  '='"'"^*''  ^'^^  *o  the  B,^ 

H^r:  r  u"''''  "'"■**^^''  *°  t''-  needs 
He  remamed  on  the  shore  till  morning  in  the  driv- 
ing ram.  d.rectmg  the  work  of  his  men.  His  pres- 
ence  meant  more  than  the  settlers  guessed     It 

h7«^r/\  '"'''"^-  '^^  ^^'-«*'--  which 
he  wrote  to  his  superiors  in  London,  of  the  large 

accounts  carried  on  his  books  for  the  settlers  and 

TTT::  r"  ^^^  ^^^^^^  ^ere.  It  was  to 
^e  effect  that. .  he  had  shut  the  gates  of  the  fort 
and  the  doors  of  the  storehouses  against  the  im- 
migrants, the  Indians  would  have  fallen  upon  them 
aad  the  charge  ^ould  have  been  made  by  those 
who  were  jealous  of  the  Company's  preeminence 
that  Us  officials  had  set  the  natives  on  to  murder 
these  people. 

The  growth  of  the  American  population  made  it 
necessary  now  for  the  settlers  to  organize  a  pro- 
visional government,  since  they  were  unwilling 
to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  McLoughlin  and 
the  Hudson  s  Bay  Company.  The  first  conven- 
tion of  Americans  m.t  in  1843,-  at  Champoeg  on 

throughout  1841  .nrf  MU»  „  u,°'.°''''°''<""«''"-«l  occasions 


MS  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

the  ^i^illamette  near  the  present  Salem,  Marion 
County,  and  chose  three  commissioners  to  govern 
them.  Two  years  later  they  framed  a  constitu- 
tion and  appointed  a  governor.  The  new  govern- 
ment was  opposed  by  the  British  settlers  and  by 
Douglas.  But  McLoughlin  supported  it  and  con- 
tributed to  its  first  exchequer.  The  missionaries 
living  among  the  Indians  were  not  in  favor  of  it, 
for  the  deposing  of  Mclxjughlin  meant  that  there 
was  now  no  authority  which  the  Indians  would 
recognize.  The  Natives  were  becoming  more  sul- 
len and  resentful  daily  because  of  the  great  con- 
course of  white  settlers ;  and  there  was  now  no  check 
at  all  upon  whiskey  peddling. 

Meanwhile  the  Oregon  Question  was  convulsing 
Congress  and  a  part  of  the  nation  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  moimtains.  A  year  before  the  Oregon 
settlers  apppinted  their  governor  and  subscribed 
to  a  constitution.  President  Polk  had  been  swept 
mto  the  White  House  by  the  slogan  of  "Fifty-four 
Forty  or  Fight,"  which  meant  that  G.-eat  Britain 
must  recognize  as  American  .'joil  the  whole  Pacific 
coast  from  the  northern  boundary  of  California 
to  the  southern  limits  of  Russiiin  Alaska  —  54° 
40'  —  or  else  the  United  States  would  declare  war. 
Negotiations  were  in  progress  between  John  C. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  FUR  KINGDOM  MS 
Calhoun.  Secretaij-  of  State,  and  Richa  d  Paken- 
ham,  on  behalf  of  the  Britisl.  Government,  when 
Polk  declared,  in  his  inaugun  i  address,  that  "our 
title  to  the  country  of  the  Oregon  is  'clear  and  un- 
questionable.' "  ■  Yet.  in  spite  of  these  statements 
and  the  loud  response  they  evoked,  Pakenham 
made  two  proposals  to  submit  the  question  to  arbi- 
tration; but  both  were  declined  by  Buchanan,  the 
new  Secretary  of  State,  who  said  uncompromis- 
ingly that  the  United  States  would  arbitrate  no 
question  involving  ite  territorial  rights. 

But  by  the  spring  of  1846  the  United  States  was 
at  war  with  Mexico.  To  fight  Great  Britain  at  the 
same  time  was  impracticable.  Though  there  was 
furious  recrimination  in  certain  quarters  in  Eng- 
land, as  the  echo  of  the  bloodthirsty  speeches  of 
Congressmen  and  Senators  sounded  across  the 
Atlantic,  the  British  Government  marked  out  for 
itself  a  course,  described  by  Lord  Aberdeen  as 
"consistent  with  justice,  reason,  moderation,  and 
common  sense."  On  June  6, 1846,  Pakenham  sub- 
in  'T^i  ''r"i "  ^-  "■"■"'  ™"«« ""-^  ^  f"""""  by  itat- 

mg  tut  he  had  contmued  the  negotiation,  begun  by  Calhoun  .nd 

had  off«ed  to  compromise  on  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  it  wa.r«»lled 
hat  he  had  not  repeated  the  phrase  of  the  Democratic  platform - 
win  of  the  territory  of  Ore^-on."  Thi,  offer  of  ™mp,„m« 
wa.  not  accepted  by  Great  Brit«n  ««1  wm  .ub««,uently  witMr.™ 


•64  ADVENTDRERS  OF  OREGON 

mitted  to  Buchanan  the  draft  of  a  treaty  which 
was  signed  six  days  later  without  amendment  or 
alteration.  The  President  sent  the  treaty  to  the 
Senate  for  consideration  without  his  signature. 
This  was  a  reversal  of  the  usual  procedure;  but 
the  overwhelming  majority  in  favor  of  signing  the 
treaty  (37  to  12)  in  a  degree  at  least  saved  Polk 
from  the  appearance  of  a  wanton  change  of  front. 

By  the  terms  of  this  treaty  the  boundary  line 
between  the  territories  of  the  United  States  and 
those  of  Great  Britain  was  continued  westward 
along  the  forty-ninth  parallel  to  the  middle  of  the 
channel  which  separates  Vancouver  Island  from 
the  mainland;  thence  it  proceeded  southerly  to 
Juan  de  Fuca  Strait  and  through  the  center  of 
that  strait  to  the  ocean,  thus  securing  the  whole 
of  Vancouver  Island  to  England.  Navigation  of 
the  channel  and  strait  was  to  be  free  and  open  to 
both  signatories;  and  navigation  of  the  Columbia 
River  was  to  be  free  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany and  to  those  trading  with  them;  and  the 
possessory  rights  of  the  Company  and  of  all  British 
subjects  in  the  territory  were  to  be  respected. 

This  settlement  was  eminently  just.  It  gave 
to  the  United  States  the  territory  rightly  claimed 
through  Gray's  discovery  of  the  Columbia,  through 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  FUB  KINGDOM  m 
Lewi*  and  Clark's  descent  of  the  lower  part  of  the 
river,  and  through  the  planting  of  Astoria.  On 
these  facts  the  American  right  to  the  Columbia 
VaUey  rested  soundly.  The  United  States  had 
also,  in  1819,  acquired  Spain's  claim  to  the  coast, 
through  the  treaty  which  ceded  the  Floridas  and  all 
Spanish  territory  on  the  Pacific  north  of  Califor- 
nia. But  the  Spanish  title  to  Oregon  was  a  shadowy 
one.  Spanish  mariners  had  done  no  more  than 
land  on  the  coast  and  declare  possession;  and,  two 
hundred  years  before  they  did  so,  the  English- 
man Drake  had  sailed  along  the  north  Pacific  coast 
and  had  taken  possession  of  "New  Albion"  for 
his  sovereign. 

Great  Britain's  claim  to  the  Northwest  Coast 
—  Oregon,  Washington,  New  Caledonia,  and  Van- 
couver Island  — was  based  on  the  explorations 
of  Cook  and  Vancouver,  on  Mackenzie's  overiand 
journey  to  the  sea,  and  on  the  explorations  and 
establishments  of  the  fur  traders.  The  British 
right  to  New  Caledonia  (British  Columbia)  and 
Vancouver  Island  is  easily  seen  to  be  indisputable 
now  that  the  mists  of  controversy  have  evaporated. 
Indeed,  even  whpn  the  argument  was  raging, 
Calhoun  advanced  England's  right  in  conversa- 
tions with  Polk,  as  Polk's  diary  reveals,  and  more 


•08 


ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 


than  once  urged  upon  Polk's  attention  the  fact  that 
England  could  claim  the  country  watered  by  the 
Fraser  by  the  same  right  that  the  United  States 
claimed  the  country  watered  by  the  Columbia, 
pointing  out  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had 
built  a  score  of  trading  posts  on  the  Fraser  and  its 
tributaries  and  had  begun  colonization  at  Victoria 
on  Vancouver  Island. 

The  Oregon  Treaty  gave  to  both  the  United 
States  and  Canada  a  broad  outlet  on  the  Pacific, 
with  the  opportunity  to  expand  their  settlements 
to  its  shores  and  their  commerce  across  its  waters. 

Unfortunately  the  lurid  and  acrimonious  lan- 
guage of  many  Congressmen  and  Senators  was 
reflected  by  the  populace  —  now  about  ten  thou- 
sand —  in  Oregon  itself.  There  was  discord  be- 
tween the  Americans  and  the  British  and  un- 
reasoning animosity  against  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  its  officials  and  servants.  This 
unfriendly  feeling  began  as  early  as  1841.  Lieu- 
tenant Wilkes  of  the  United  States  Navy,  visiting 
Oregon  in  that  year,  commented  on  the  attitude 
of  the  settlers  towards  the  Company  which  had 
treated  them  with  such  great  generosity,  and  ex- 
pressed his  surprise.  There  is  no  doubt,  however, 
that  the  Company's  servants,  whose  regard  for 


THE  FALL  OP  THE  FUR  KINGDOM    M7 

Mclaughlin  was  little  short  of  adoration,  resented 
the  intrusion  of  the  setUers  and  their  new  govern- 
ment, and  contributed  their  share  of  strife.    Those 
were  the  blind  days  when  jingoism  ranked  as 
patnotwm,  and  when  a  man's  love  for  his  own  flag 
was  measured  largely  by  the  hatred  he  felt  for 
h«  neighbor's.    Ill-will  did  not  prevail  with  all,  but 
It  did  prevail  with  too  many.     It  was  finally  to 
pass  away  in  the  exercise  of  democratic  govern- 
ment and  in  blood,  when  the  Indians  rose  against 
the  white  dwellers  in  Oregon  and  thus  accelerated 
their  union. 

In  the  year  of  the  Oregon  Treaty.  McLoughlin 
resigned  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
retired  with  his  family  to  Oregon  City.    He  was 
succeeded  by  Douglas  at  Fort  Vancouver.    The 
Indians  took  the  departure  of   "White  Eagle" 
from  the  Big  House  bitterly  to  heart,  and  they 
blamed  the  Americans  for  this  stroke  of  sorrow 
McLoughlin  knew  that  as  a  deposed  chief  his 
power  was  broken;  he  could  no  longer  command 
^  natives.     He  sent  word  up  the  river  to  the 
Whitmans  and  begged  them  to  come  into  tt.> 
settlement,  but  they  would  not  leave  their  post 
among  the  Cayuse  Indians. 
A  few  months  later  an  epidemic  of  measles  broke 


1 


AM  ADVENTURERS  OF  OREGON 

out  and  •  number  of  sick  were  being  nuned  at  the 
Mission  House  by  the  Whitmans  and  their  helpers. 
The  disease  spread  among  the  Indians,  and  Whit- 
man ucd  Spalding  had  their  hands  fi'll.  The  na- 
tives were  terror-stricken.  Some  of  tkem,  at  least, 
believed  that  the  white  people  had  purposely  let 
loose  this  scourge  to  wipe  out  the  Indians.  No 
doubt  they  had  heard  of  Duncan  McDougal  and 
his  corked  bottle  of  smallpox  and  concluded  that 
the  missionaries  could  have  kept  the  bottle  of 
measles  corked  if  they  had  half  tried.  The  epi- 
demic seems  to  have  been  the  spark  which  touched 
off  the  stored-up  fears  and  resentments  of  the 
Indians.  Tks  wanton  murder  of  numbers  of  their 
red  kindred  just  beyond  the  hills  by  bo.>neville 
and  other  American  adventurers,  the  seizure  of 
their  lands  by  settlers,  whose  first  great  caravan 
these  Indians  had  seen  enter  their  country  under 
Whitman's  guidance,  were  other  causes  of  their 
sullen  discontent. 

The  Whitman  mission  was  attacked.  The 
Whitmans  and  twelve  others  in  it  were  murdered. 
Some  fifty  persons  were  taken  away  as  prisoners. 
The  government  of  Oregon,  powerless  to  effect 
the  rescue  of  the  captives,  appealed  to  Douglas. 
Ogden  with  some  of  the  men  of  his  brigade  followed 


THE  PALL  OF  THE  FUR  KINGDOM  sag 
the  Indiana  into  the  mounUin*  and  induced  them 
to  surrender  the  prisoners. 

When  the  Indian  risings  began,  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  stopped  the  sale  of  firearms  to  the 
natives.     But  the  insane  prejudice  abiding  in  the 
minds  of  some  of  the  settlers  and  missionaries  in- 
spired a  few  of  Oregon's  early  chroniclers  to  set 
down  the  cause  of  the  uprising  to  the  machinations 
of  the  Company.  ■    Some  of  the  farm  lands  belong- 
ing to  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company 
were  seized  by  settlers  in  defiance  of  the  Treaty  of 
1846,  and  attempts  were  made  to  wrest  McLough- 
lin's  holdings  from  him.     But  the  Father  of  Ore- 
gon had  many  friends  as  well  as  foes  among  the 
settlers,  and  these  .stood  by  him  loyally. 

John  McLoughlin  died  in  1857,  aged  seventy- 
three.  A  few  years  before  his  retirement  from 
oflSce  he  had  turned  for  comfort,  in  the  storms  of 

■  Not  only  the  Company  but  the  Rom.n  C.tholic  prie.U  mm 
Mcused:  .nd  .  .torm  o(  Proteitant  .nd  C.tholic  reerin.in.Uon 
rocked  Oregon.  The  historic,  written  by  W.  H.  Gray.  .  Pm. 
e.Unt  l.ym.n,  .nd  F.ther  F.  N.  BLnchet  .how  how  far  men 
of  le.1  but  of  narrow  .ymp.thie.  m.y  be  led  to  forget  the  in- 
junction th.t  "he  who  hateth  hi.  brother  Is  a  murderer."  Mar- 
cu.  Whitman  wa.  a  Christian  in  hi,  life  a.  well  a.  in  hi.  death. 
Father  deSmet.  devoted  labor,  among  the  Sali.h  reveal  the 
Catholic  nuMionary  at  hi.  highest.  Even  those  men  who  dipped 
their  pens  .n  gall  had  not  hesitated  to  stake  their  live,  in  pursuit 
of  their  Ideal..    The  Indiui  war  would  have  come  in  any  cue 


«70  ADVENTDHERS  OP  OREGON 

censure  and  prejudice  that  broke  .  ver  him,  to  the 
Canadian  priests  who  had  come  into  Oregon,  and  he 
died  a  devout  Catholic.     His  Jatter  years  saw  no 
change  in  his  large  spirit  of  tolerance  and  good-will 
towards  loyalties  and  faiths  other  than  his  own .   In 
soul  and  mind.as  well  as  in  bodily  stature,  McLough- 
Im  towered  high  above  most  of  the  men  of  his  day 
in  Old  Oregon.     He  got  little  gratitude  in  his  life- 
time and  for  years  after  his  death,  a  cloud  rested 
upon  his  memory.   But  the  pages  of  scurrility  about 
him  have  been  faded  white  by  the  light  of  the  truth, 
and  his  name  and  fame  are  today  treasured  as  a 
great  tradition  in  Oregon.    He  was  a  master  build- 
er, for  he  erected  the  moral  structure  of  law  and 
of  just  and  humane  principles  in  the  wilderness; 
and  it  was  under  the  shelter  of  his  building  that 
settlement  began  and  grew  in  peace  for  a  decade. 
The  Indian  outbreaks  which  began  in  1847  and 
continued  for  a  generation  compelled  the  Ameri- 
can Government  to  provide  for  the  security  of  the 
settlements,  and,  in  1848,  the  American  domain 
west  of  the  Rockies  was  erected  into  Oregon  Ter- 
ritory.    In  1853  it  was  divided  and  Washington 
Territory  was  set  up.     Six  years  later,  on  Febru- 
ary 14,  1859,  the  State  of  Oregon  was  admitted  to 
the  Union  with  its  present  boundaries. 


THE  PALL  OP  THE  PUR  KINGDOM    871 
So  passes  Old  Oregon,    So  dawns  the  new  regime 
Great  changes  ha>  e  come  to  i Vat  country  west 
of  the  mountains  in  the  thiry-five  years  smce 
McLoughlin  went  to  iiv.  Ih^re!    Portland,  first 
settled  in  1845.  is  now  a  chartered  city  and  the 
home  of  Oregon's  first  newspaper,  the  Oregoniun. 
Ihere  is  a  settlement  at  Seattle,  named  after  a  chief 
whoremainedfriendlyduringthelndianwars.   Vic- 
toria, on  Vancouver  Island,  whither  Douglas  moved 
the  Pacific  headquarters  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany in  1849,  is  a  thriving  colony.     The  capital  of 
McLoughlin's  feudal  kingdom.  Fort  Vancouver  is 
the  county  seat  of  the  new  Washington  Territory. 
The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  will  shortly  sell  to 
the  United  States  Government  all  its  property 
on  the  American  side  of  the  boundary.     The  old 
Company  is  now  no  longer  a  feudal  overlord  but 
only  a  trading  corporation.     Its  domains  to  the 
north,  west  of  the  mountains,  have  been  sur- 
rendered to  the  Crown  and  two  new  colonies,  Van- 
couver Island  and  British  Columbia,  which  are 
presently  to  become  one,  are  beginning  their  his- 
tory.   James  Douglas  is  the  Governor  of  both 
colonies.    A  few  years  more  and  these  colonies 
together  with  the  fur  trader's  vast  northern  em- 
pire of  Rupert's  Land  and  Athabaska,  east  of  the 


«7« 


ADVENTDRERS  OF  OREGON 


mountains,  shall  pass  into  the  new  Dominion  of 
Canada. 

The  population  of  Oregon  and  Washington  has 
been  temporarily  depleted  by  the  stampede  for 
gold,  following  the  discovery  of  mines  in  California 
in  1849,  and  Victoria  has  become  a  great  outfitting 
post.  Men  are  pouring  into  Victoria  to  buy  goods. 
Presently  begins  the  rush  of  gold  seekers  up  the 
Fraser  River.  A  new  adventure  beckons  to  the 
hardy,  and  cavalcades  of  Oregon  men  are  driving 
northwards.  The  men  of  young  Oregon,  the  men 
of  the  second  generation,  are  seeking  new  goals  in 
the  wilderness,  even  as  their  fathers  sought.  They 
are  traveling  the  old  route  of  the  northern  brigades, 
up  the  bend  of  the  Columbia,  up  the  Okanogan, 
and  down  David  Thompson's  river  to  the  Fraser. 
In  their  packs  are  not  beaver  traps  but  washing- 
pans,  shovels,  and  picks.  As  they  pass  through  the 
peaceful  valley  of  the  Thompson,  they  see  Indians 
paddling  up  the  river  towards  the  fort  to  trade. 
They  cast  scarcely  a  glance  at  the  bales  in  the 
canoes.  The  great  quest  today  is  not  pelts  but 
gold.  A  boundary  line  between  two  flags  no  longer 
holds  asunder  the  spirit  of  British  and  American 
adventurers.  But  the  romance  of  the  fur  trade 
is  ended. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Ind  tiTcT  'u"  f^"^"^  "'  *'""  Northwest  Coast 
o^n-n°y^^^  ^"'^  '"""""^  Hubert  Howe  Ban- 
croft s  nt^oryof  the  Northwest  Coari.  2  vols.  (San 
Francsco.  1884).  which  includes  a  part  of  the  log-bo^k 
tL  7n  °®™^Haswell;  Robert  Greenhow'!  His- 
tory  of  Oregon  and  California  (Boston.  1847).  which 
contains  that  portion  of  Gray's  log  recording  hildis 

S™/  rn  r  '"^'  ^^'°^=  ^-  ^"'fi°=*''^  Oregon  and 
SW^rado  (Boston  1866);  H.  S.  Lyman's  nLory  of 
Oregon,  4  vols.  (New  York.  1903);  Joseph  Schafer's 
m^ory  of  he  Pacific  Northwest  (New  York.  1905)Ve 

YorY"To9)  W 'V-^M  '  ^•"'"'  "^  ^''**'"^"'"  (New 
York    1909).  \\     R.  Manning's   The  Nootka  Sound 

Controversy  m  the  Annual  RepoH  for  1904  of  the 
American  Historical  Association  (Washington,  1905); 
^ur  Kitson's  Captain  James  Cook,  the  Circum- 
nariffator  (London.  1907);  George  Vancouver's  A  Voy. 
m  of  Discovery  to  the  NoHh  Pacific  Ocean,  3  vols 
(London  1798);  H.  H.  Bancroft's  Washington,  Idat, 
"nd  Montana  (San  Francisco.  1890);  Agnes  C.  Laut's 
Vikings  of  the  Pacific  (New  York.  1906) 

For  Lewis  and  Clark:  Jefferson's  Message  from  the 
President  of  the  Untied  State,  coMMunZuTDU- 
covenes  made  m  Exploring  the  Mis«mri,  etc.  (Wash- 

"  873 


f74 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 


m: 


ington,  1806) ;  Olin  D.  Wheeler's  Trail  nf  Lewit  and 
Clark,  2  vols.  (New  York,  1904) ;  The  OriginalJoumali 
of  the  Lewie  and  Clarlt  Expedition,  8  vols.  (New  York 
1904-1905),  edited  by  R.  G.  Thwaites.  The  last 
named  supersedes  other  editions  of  the  journals  and 
former  histories  of  the  journey  -  -  such  as  those  edited 
and  revised  bv  Elliott  Coues  and  Biddle  and  Allen  — 
by  reason  of  its  accuracy  and  completeness. 

On  the  expeditions  sent  out  by  John  Jacob  Astor 
and  the  founding  of  Astoria:  Washington  Irving's 
Astoria  (New  York,  1861);  Gilbert  Franch^re's  Nar- 
ratite  of  a  Voyage,  etc.  (New  York,  1854) ;  Ross  Cox's 
The  Columbia  Riter,  or  Scenes  and  Adventures,  etc. 
3  vols.  (New  York,  1832);  Alexander  Ross's  Adventurei 
of  the  First  Settlers,  etc.  (London,  1849) ;  James  Partnn's 
Life  of  John  Jacob  Astor  (New  York,  1865). 

On  the  fur  trade  there  is  a  wealth  of  m  iterial  from 
which  have  been  selected  the  following:  H.  P.  Biggar's 
Early  Trading  Companies  of  New  France  (Toronto, 
1901);  Gordon  Charles  Davidson's  The  Nor:h  West 
Company  (Berkeley,  1918);  Louis  F.  R.  Masson's 
Les  Bourgeois  de  la  Compagnie  du  Nord-Ouest,  2  vols. 
(Quebec,  1889-1890);  Agnes  C.  Laut's  Conquest  of  the 
Great  Northwest,  2  vols.  (New  York,  1909) ;  J.  Dunn's 
The  Oregon  Territory  and  the  British  North  American 
Fur  Trade  (Philadelphia,  1845);  H.  M.  Chittenden's 
The  American  Fur  Trade  of  the  Far  West,  3  vols.  (New 
York,  1902) ;  and  History  of  Early  Steamboat  Navigation 
on  the  Missouri,  2  vols.  (New  York,  1903) ;  Elliott  Coues's 
New  Light  on  the  Greater  North  West,  containing  the 
journals  of  Alexander  Henry  and  David  Thompson, 
3  vols.  (New  York,  1897) ;  and  Forty  Years  a  Fur  Trader 
(New  York,  1898);  Lawrence  J.  Burpee's  Highways  of 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE  275 

1»S  TCEmrff.  r  7-^^''*' '^"''"•«''' (London 

0«,o«;  M«  Struggle  for  Possesion  (IsU^n    IsTs^  " 
the  ^mmca«  Commonwealth  series-  p!tt!^'^c^  . 
Oregon  l/i„;o„,  o„^  y,„^,^,;  ?     f'      ,  "  P"""'  ' 

ing  Wyett  ^  """'"'  P'""<^">  i°clud- 

(New  Vorkt'ftryr^^^j^j;/-^^^^^  Hi^ry 
ed.ted  by  M.  M.  Quaife  7cJj:Zm'jf^:^:^ 


„«  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

American   Diplomacy   umUr   TyUr  and  Polk   (1907); 
XXhnso;'8  SUphen  A.  Douglas:  a  Study  xnAmer. 

AmerUa:  Foreign  Relation,  i^oU.  (New  )ork    916) 
Journal  of  the  ConMutional  Co»"»"°»  »/  ""  »'""  "^ 
Oregon  held  at  SaUm  in  1857  (S«lem.  1888). 


INDEX 


Aberdeen,  Lord,  on  aettlement 

of  Oregon  quealion,  iM 
Abaaroka  Indians,  170;  «o  o/«o 

Crow  Indians 
^diim>  (frigate),  193 
AJcenlure  (sloop),  41 
Aiken,  seaman  on  the  Tonauiii 

130 
Alabama,  Port,  French  at,  77 
Alaska,  Russians  in,  8,  9,  10; 
Hudson's    Bay    Company's 
trade  with,  229;  coastleased 
by  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
889-30;    McLoughlin    urges 
purchase  of.  830 
Alhatrott  (ship),  801 
Alexander   VI,    Pope,    divides 

the  world,  3-4 
American    Board    of   Commis- 
sioners  for  Foreign  Missions 
sends  Parker  and  Whitman 
to  West,  845 
American  Pur  Company,  117 

214,  its,  880 
Amencan    Philosophical    Soci- 
ety aids  Pacific  exploration, 
89 
Anian,  Strait  of,  1,  2,  10 
Argonaut  (ship),  16,  17 
Ankara  Indians,  Astor's  Over- 
landers  and,  158-39 
Arkansas  River,  French  on,  77 
Ashley,  General  W.  H.,  885 
Asia,   short  route  sought  to. 

Astor,  J.  J.,  plans  for  fur- 
trading  system,  110,  114, 
117-19;     and     North-West 


Company,  110-12,  117,  216; 
and  sea-otter  trade,  113-14; 
early  life,  110-17;  and  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company,  117,814; 
scheme  as  to  Russian  trade, 
118,     187-88;    and     Pacific 
Fur  Company,  119;  recruits 
men,     180;    sends     Tonguin 
to  Oregon,   120  tl  teq.;  hii 
Overlanders  journey  to  Ore- 
gon, 144  et  leq.;  and  War  of 
1818,  194;  petitions  Ameri- 
can government  protection 
for    Astoria,    195;    tries    to 
recover  Astoria,  818;  law  to 
aid,  812-13;  undaunted,  213; 
losses,   214;    at    St.    Louis, 
814-15;  bibliography,  274 
Astoria,    building  of,    1S8-33- 
story  of  the  Tonguin  told  at,' 
136;  Indians  at,   148,  800- 
801;     Astor's     Overlanders 
reach,  183;  under  the  Nor'- 
westers,  185e/««7.;  decision 
to  abandon,   196;   Nor'wes- 
ters  come  to,  198-800,  208; 
^(iafroM  reaches,  801;   sur- 
rendered    to     Nor'westers. 
803;  renamed  Fort  George 
803;     restored     to     United 
Slates.  811;  Parker  at.  847; 
M«  alio  George.  Fort 
Atchison    (Kan.),    Lewis    and 

Clark  at  site  of.  40 
Athabaska    becomes    part    of 

Canada,  871-72 
Athabaska,  Lake,  Fort  Chipe- 
wyan  on,  94,  95 


«77 


278 


INDEX 


ri: 


Athabaska  Pais.  Thompaon 
crouei,  134 

Baker,  Mount,  Vancouver 
names,  23 

Baker's  Bay,  Lewis  and  Clark 
in,  05;  Tonquin  in.  131; 
Beaver  in,  187 

Bancroft,  George.  Hiatory  of 
the  Northieett  Coast,  cited,  2 
(note) 

Barkley,  English  trader,  8 
(note) 

Barnes,  Jane.  first  white 
woman  on  the  Columbia. 
205-00.  249 

Barrell,  Joseph.  18 

Beaver,  chaplain  to  Fort  Van- 
couver. 249-51 

Beaver,  Jane,  wife  of  chaplain. 
349 

Beaver  (ship),  187,  188.  199, 
SOI 

Beaver,  first  steamer  on  Pacific 
coast.  230 

Beaver  Club,  102,  103.  213 

Beaver  Lake,  Uenry  reaches.  88 

Bering.  Vitus.  8,  12 

Big  Horn  Mountains,  Clark 
maps,  68;  Astor's  Over- 
landers  cross,  169.  171 

Big  Horn  River.  Lisa  on,  109 

Big  Sioux  River,  place  of  peace 
for  Indians.  44 

Bigsby,  The  Shoe  and  Canoe, 
quoted,  08 

Bird-Woman,  see  Sacajawea 

Black  Hills  of  South  Dakota, 
discovery  of,  76;  Astor's 
Overlanders  in,  167 

Blackfeet  Indians,  and  Lewis. 
67;  and  Colter,  110.  150; 
traders  and,  225 

Blanchet.  F.  N..  Catholic  mis- 
sionary, 257;  history  of  Ore- 
gon, 269  (note) ;  bibliography, 
275 

Bodega  (Cal.).  Russians  al, 
115-16 


Bois*  Creek.  Astor's  Ov.  r- 
landers  on,  170-80 

Bois6,  Fort.  241,  252 

Bonneville,  Captain  B.  L.  E., 
268 

Boone.  Daniel.  37,  38.  140 

Boston,  expedition  to  North* 
west  from,  16;  Gray's  re- 
turn to,  19-20;  trade  from, 
US 

Boston  (ship),  116 

Boston  Marine  Association,  10 

Brackenridge.  Henry.  150,  162, 
163 

Bradbury,  £n>ilish  scientist 
with  Hunt,  148,  154,  155- 
150,  157,  162;  returns  to  St. 
Louis,  164 

Bright  Stones.  Mountains  of, 
source  of  River  of  the  West. 
1. 10;  Lewis  and  Clark  reach. 
59 

British  Columbia,  Vancouver 
explores.  23;  British  right  to, 
265;  becomes  colony,  271; 
tee  also  New  Caledonia 

Brown,  Samuel.  18 

Bruce,  Scotch  horticulturist  at 
Fort  Vancouver,  234 

Buchanan,  James.  Secretary  of 
State.  263.  264 

BuflFaloes.  Clark  sees,  68;  an- 
nual hunt  of  trappers,  105- 
107 

Bulfinch.  Dr.  Thomas,  18,  20 

Cabot,  Sebastian.  74 
Cabots  explore  New  World.  4 
Calhoun,  J.   C.  Secretary  of 
State,  and  Oregon  question, 
262-63,  265 
California.  Russians  plan  ad- 
vance into,  114;  Ogden  goes 
to.  224;  revolution  in.  230- 
231 
Callicum.  Indian  chief,  14 
Cameahwait      (Come-and- 
Smoke).  Shoshone  chief.  50- 
60 


INDEX 


>79 


Cftnada,  conqueit  of,  86;  Do- 
minion form«>d,  878 
Carlo!  Ill,  of  Spain,  7-8 
Cartier  eiplorM  New  World,  4 
Carver,  Jonathan,  publishes 
boolt  on  West  (1778),  1"  11 
Cass,  hunter,  leaves  Lewis  jnd 

Clark.  174 
Catholics,  missionarieji  in  Ore- 
gon, tiT;  blamed  fur  l.dian 
uprisings,  2ug  (note) 
Catlin,  George,  244 
Cayuse  Indians,  Whitman  and, 

iM,  887-68;  War.  858 
Celiast,  Solomon  Smith  mar- 
ries, 845 
Celilo  Falls,  Lewis  and  Clark 

portage,  03 
Champlain,    Samuel,    as    fur 

trader,  70 
Champoeg,  convention  at.  201- 

862 
Charboneau,  Toussaint,  guide 
and    interpreter    for    Lewis 
and    Clark,    37,    48-40,   iO, 
5S,    56,    67,    100;    remains 
among  Mandans,  09;   inter- 
preter    at     Missouri     Sub- 
Agency  (1837),  78 
Charboneau,  son  of  Sacajawea 
and  Toussaint  Charboneau. 
48.  69,  161 
Charles  II,   of    England,      nd 
Radisson    and    Groseiliii-rs, 
78,    79;    charters    Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  79-80 
Cheyenne     Indians,      Astor's 

Overlandera  and,  105 
"Children  of  the  Sun."  193; 

tei  also  Spokane  Indians 
China,  workmen  brought  to 
Vancouver  Island  from.  13: 
fur-trading  expedition  from. 
ISj  Beater  to  be  dispatched 
to,  138;  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany's trade  with,  289 
Chinook   Indiana  at   Astoria, 

248 
Chipewyan,  Fort,  B4 


Chippewa  Indiani,  Henry  and, 
87-88 

Chopunnish  Indiani,  191,  192; 
»f»  o'  0  Ne«  Percys  Indians, 
nulla  Walla  Indians 

Churchill  Biver,  Fort  Prince  of 
W  ales  on,  84;  Henry  reaches, 
88 

Clark,  (;.  II.,  Jefferson  writes 
to,  27-28;  brother  of  Wil- 
liam, 35,  31;  Illinois  expedi- 
tion, 37;  William  assumes 
debts  of,  71-72 

Clark,  William,  invited  by 
Lewis  to  join  expedition. 
35-30;  personal  characteris- 
tics, 3!i,  71-72;  quoted,  38; 
as  a  diarist,  42-44,  58;  and 
Indians,  45,  71;  names 
Judith  River,  50-51,  72;  ex- 
plores the  Missouri,  51; 
dangers  encountered  by,  53- 
ol;  and  the  cloud-burst, 
55-56;  on  Cape  Disappoint- 
ment, 00;  explores  Yellow- 
stone Hivcr,  08;  offers  to 
adopt  Charboneau's  son,  09: 
writes  to  brother,  09;  "Red 
Head,"  71,  243;  Governor 
of  Missouri  Territory,  71; 
Superintendent  of  Indian 
Affairs,  71;  pays  brother's 
debts  72;  marriage,  72: 
death  (1838),  72;  and  Mis- 
souri Fur  Company,  109; 
Indians  seek  missionaries 
through,  242.  244:  act  alio 
Lewis  and  Clark  expedition 
Clarke,  John,  partner  in 
Astor's  enterprise,  187;  jour- 
neys inland,  188;  at  Spokane 
House,  198.  193.  190;  dis- 
approves plan  of  abandoning 
Astoria,  197;  executes  In- 
dian, 197-98,  809;  goes  to 
Pend  d'Oreille  River,  200; 
accompanies  Nor' westers  to 
Astoria,  202;  refuses  to  join 
Nor  westers,    205;    journeys 


980 


INDEX 


Clarke,  John— ComHnu0d 
back  Acrou  mountaiDi,  SOff, 
t07;     and     American     Fur 
Company,  tSA 

Clattop  Indians.  Lewis  and 
Clark  among.  66 

Clayoquot  (Vancouver  Island), 
Gray  at*  CO.  tl;  Tonquin  at, 
186-41 

Clearwatck  River,  Lewis  and 
Clark  on,  68.  63;  post  on, 
198-63 

Colnett.  Captain  of  the  Argo- 
naut, 17 

Colter,  John,  68,  109,  110,  IdO, 
17« 

Columbia  River,  importance  of 
discovery,  2;  Gray  discovers, 
85;  Lewis  and  Clark  on,  63- 
64;  Thompson  on,  98,  118; 
Aster  p*':n8  posts  on,  110-11, 
114;  R'lK.si'ns  plan  settle- 
ment, 1) : :  Astor's  fort.  180- 
181;  ses  also  Astoria;  Astor's 
Overlanders  reach,  183;  ««s 
alao  West,  River  of  the 

Columbia  (ship),  16,  19,  80, 
81.  88.  84 

Columbus,  Christopher,  and 
search  for  Asia,  8-3 

Colville,  Fort,  8^3-84 

Comcomly,  Indian  chief,  138, 
148,  187,  801,  804,  848 

Congress,  law  forbidding  alien 
traders  in  United  States, 
818-13;  petition  for  terri- 
torial government  for  Ore- 
gon, 861  (note);  Senate  and 
Oregon  treaty,  864 

Connolly,  Nelia,  wife  of  Doug- 
las, 840,  251 

Constitution  (ship),  184 

Cook,  Captain  James,  11-18; 
and  sea-otter  trade.  113 

Coppermine  River,  Hearne  dis- 
covers. 89 

Cortes  explores  New  World,  4 

Council  Bluff.  Lewis  and  Clark 
name.  41 


Cox,  Rosa,  187,  MS 

Crooked  Falls.  54 

Crooks,  Ramsay,  partner  in 
Astor's  enterprise,  150-61, 
108;  and  Lisa,  156,  159;  on 
Snake  River,  175-76.  177- 
178;  left  with  Day  in  moun- 
tains, 179,  180,  184,  189-90: 
Stuart  finds,  186;  journeys 
overland.  188;  and  American 
Fur  Company.  885 

Crow  Indians,  as  horse  thieves, 
68.  164,  101;  Lisa  amons. 
109;  Astor'sOverlandersano, 
163,  164.  169;  Rose  and, 
165 

Crusatte.  French  vojfogeur  with 
Lewis  and  Clark.  55.  67 

Cumberland  House,  88.  89 

Dalles,  The,  Lewis  and  Clark 

at  site  of,  64 
Davidson,   G.    C,    The  North 

West    Company,    cited,    90 

(note) 
Day,  John,  hunter  with  Astor's 

(Jverlanders,  158;  lost  with 

Crooks.  179,  180,  184,  189- 

190;  Stuart  finds.  186;  starts 

over    mountains,    188;    de- 

rangement ,      1 89-90 ;      sent 

back  to  Astoria,  190 
Day's  Defile,  190 
Deception  Bay,  15 
Demers,  Catholic  missionary. 

857 
De  Soto,  Hernando,  see  Soto 
Derby.  John.  18 
Dillon    (Mont.),    Lewis    and 

Clark  at  site  of,  57 
Disappointment,  Cape,  Meares 

names,  15;  Gray  at.  83.  84; 

Vancouver  passes.  83;  Clark 

at,  66;  Tonquin  at,  188.  131; 

Beaver  reaches,  187 
Discovery  (ship),  88 
Dorion,  father  of  Pierre,  iuter- 

preter  with  Lewis  and  Clark 

39,  44 


INDEX 


Ml 


Dorion.  Baptiite,  ion  of  Pierre. 

<I0 

Dorian,  Pier't,  interpreter  with 

Aitor'a     Overlanderi,     147, 

Hi.  MS;  and  Liia,  147-48, 

lis,  161:  hia  family  on  the 

march,    148-4S,    IJl,    \ii, 

Idi.    lea,    178-77,    I81-8«, 

»'J0;  bii  horae.  178-79,  181; 

wife    telli    tragedy    of    hia 

death,  «07-09;  wife  remaina 

with     Walla     Wallaa,    209- 

«I0 

Douglaa,  David,  botaniil,  iSS 

Dou^laa,  Jamei,  McLoughlin's 

chief  lieutenant,  HM-S3,  «37; 

Beaver  and.  848-40;  oppoies 

new  government  of  Oregon, 

M«;  aucceeda    McLoughlin, 

887;  government  of  Oregon 

appeala  to.  888;  Governor  of 

Vancouverlslandand  Britiih 

Columbia,  871 

Drake,  Francis,  4.  5,  8.  885 

Drouillard,   member  of  Lewis 

and    Clark   expedition.    89; 

and  Missouri  Fur  Company. 

109 

Dubreui),  royagevr  with  Astor'a 

Overlan.'ers.  179 
Dunmore's  War.  37 
Dutch  fur  trade,  76 

England,  see  Great  Britain 

Farnham,  clerk  at  Astoria,  198 

Felice  (ship),  IS,  15 

Ferrelo.  Spanish  seaman,  4-5 

Ferrelo,  Cape,  4 

Fields,  member  of  Lewis  and 

Clark  expedition,  44 
"Fifty-four  Forty  or  Fight," 

868 
Fisheries,    Cabot's   quest   for, 

74;    beginnings    in    Oreson, 

835-36 
Flathead  Indians,  68,  841;  tee 

alao  Salish  Indiana 
Floridas,  Jef  Tson  attempts  to 


purchase,  SI;  ceded  to  Unit- 
ed States.  865 

Floyd,  Charles,  37;  death,  43 

Floyd.  John.  37 

Floyd's  Blulf.  Sioux  City  (la.), 

Fourth-of-July  Creek,  41 

Fox,  mate  on  the  Tonquin, 
1*8  ^ 

France,  Spain  and,  17;  acquires 
Louisiana  (1800).  30-31 

Franch^re.  clerk  with  Astor'a 
expedition,  180 

Fraser.  Simon,  discovers  Fraser 
River,  100,  818-17;  with 
North- West  Company,  111, 
188 

Fraser  River,  discovered,  100, 
816-17;  gold  seekers  on,  878 

French,  English  and.  9,  78; 
leaders  in  fishery  industry, 
75;  and  furtrade,  76;  roureur^ 
de-boil,  77-78;  trading  poata, 
77 

Frobishers,  Henry  and,  88; 
build  Cumberland  House, 
88;  build  Fort  Isle  4  la 
Crosse,  88-89;  and  North- 
West  Company,  91 

Fuca,  Juan  de,  8  (note) 

Fur  trade.  Cook  and  sea-otter 
skins,  18,  113;  Americans 
and,  18;  Gray  and.  19-80, 
84,  86;  Lewis  and  Clark 
meet  traders,  39;  reign  of  the 
trapper,  74  el  teq.;  bibliog- 
raphy,874-74;  »«<i/ioAmeri- 
can  Fur  Company,  Astor, 
Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
Missouri  Fur  Company, 
North-West  Company,  Pa- 
cific Fur  Company 

Gallatin     River,     Lewis    and 

Clark  name,  58 
George,  Fort,  Astoria  renamed, 

i03;  Hunt  returns  to,  804; 

Astorians   leave,    807;    Mc- 

Loughlin  abandons,  819 


INDEX 


George,  Fort,  on  the  Ncchaeo 
River,  iU 

Ghent,  Treaty  of  (1814).  91 1 

Glendive.  Clark  at  site  or,  68 

Goidfn  Hind  (ihip).  e 

Good  Hope,  Cape  of,  Van- 
couver Mill  arouDd,  tt 

Grand  Portage  (Minn),  heid- 
quarteri  of  North- Wettt 
Company,  83,  90 

Grand  River  (S.  D),  Astor'n 
Overlanden  near,  1Q3 

Grantftdale  (Mont.),  Lewis  and 
Clark  camp  near  site  of,  62 

Gray,  Captain  Robert,  of 
Boston,  10,  18,  113;  Brst 
voyage  to  PaciBc  Coast,  ID- 
90;  lecond  voyage  around 
the  Horn.  20-41;  at  Ctayo- 
quot,  41;  and  Vancouver. 
a,  23;  discovers  Columbia 
River,  iS-iS.  31;  returns  to 
Boston  (17!K)),  «0;  death 
(1806J,  Hi;  quoted.  131-32 

Gray,  W.  U..  252;  llialory  of 
Oregon,  209  (note) 

Great  Uritain,  explorations, 
ff-6;  aettlcmentx,  7;  English 
in  America,  0;  fur  trade, 
12-13,  70;  and  Spain^  17,21; 
and  France,  32;  and  fisheries, 
74.  73  (note);  English  as 
rivals  of  French.  78;  Oregon 
question.  202-67 

Great  Falls,  Lewis  and  Clark 
at,  5i,  54.  56 

Great  Lakes.  French  trading 
posts  on.  77 

"Great  Medicine  Road  of  the 
Whites."  246  (note) 

Great  Slave  Lake,  Thompson 
on.  07 

Great  War,  3:i 

Green  River,  Hunt  reaches, 
172 

Grinder,  reputed  murderer  of 
Lewis.  70 

Gros  Ventre  Range,  Hunt 
crosses.  173 


Groseilliers,  French  ciplorer, 
70;  ih  England,  78.  70 

Haldcmand,  report  to  (1780), 
00  (note) 

Hall,  Fort,  Fayette  builds,  241 

Hancock,  John,  reception  for 
Gray.  20 

Hancock,  Julia,  S\ 

Haiwell  commands  Adrenture, 
21 

Hatch.  Crowell.  18 

Hawaii,  Tomfuiti  reaches.  127; 
tee  also  Sandwich  Islands 

Hayes  River,  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  builds  fort  on,  81 

Hearne,  Samuel,  HO 

Heart  River,  Lewis  and  Clark 
pass,  46 

Heceta,  Bruno,  9,  26 

Henry,  Alexander,  the  elder, 
87-88 

Henry,  Alexander,  the  younger, 
206,  243;  ouoted.  tU  (note) 

Henry,  Andrew,  partner  in 
Missouri  Fur  Company,  147, 
150,  174  (note),  22A 

Henry's  Fort,  174,  176 

Henry's  River,  174 

Hoback.  hunter  with  Astor's 
Overlanders,  136,  164,  171, 
173,  191,  207 

Hoback's  River,  173 

Hudson,  Henry,  explores  Xew 
World.  4 

Hudson  Bay,  Radisson  and 
Groseilliers  reach.  76;  re- 
stored to  England,  84 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  9, 
47;  established.  70-80;  still 
flourishes,  80;  builds  forts, 
81;  Indians  and,  81,  220, 
242;  Canadian  rivals,  81- 
82;  activities  after  Peace  of 
Utrecht,  84-86;  and  free 
traders,  89;  rivalry  of  North- 
West  Companpr,  92,  94.  215; 
servants.  03;  Thompson  and, 
96;  Red  River  colony,  215- 


INDEX 


HudMD'i  BsyCompuy— ConCrf 
*l«i  ib«orl>i  North-Wnil 
Comp>n>,  Kid;  in  Oreion. 
417  II  ttq.;  riv«I  tndcri, 
m-tt:  fint  (1838),  «30; 
religion,  Ui;  Parker  mch« 
pott  of,  <«7;  mod  ■ettlrmrnt 
of  Oregon,  «34-«3;  American 
■aimoaity  towaril,  iflO;  anil 
Indian  upriningi,  tiM:  lells 
United  States  property  on 
American  «i(te,  *71;  Pacific 
headquarteri  moved  to 
Victoria,  «71 

Humboldt  River.  Ofiden  dis- 
covers. 443 

Hunt.  'V.  P.,  leader  of  Aator's 
Overlanders,  144  tl  leq.;  on 
the  Beavrr,  187-88,  189;  on 
the  AlbatroKt,  40I-U4;  re- 
turnj  to  Astoria,  i(04.  403; 
in  St.  Louis.  403  (note) 

Iberville,  Pierre  Le  Moyne  <!' 

84,  83-84 
Idaho,  Ogden  in,  443 
Independence  Creek,  41 
Illinois  River,  French  on,  77 
India,  fur-trading  expeditions 

from,  13 
Indians,  reception  of  Meares, 
14-13;  Gray  and.  40,  41. 
44;  Lewis  and  Clark  and. 
♦4-43,  63;  fur  trade  with, 
73-76;  Hudson's  Hay  Com- 
pany and,  81,  440,  HI;  and 
free  traders,  89;  hostile  to 
Winship,  115;  massacre  at 
Xootka,  116;  and  Astoria. 
134,  141-44;  Thorn  and, 
136-38;  attack  return  ex- 
pedition of  Astor's  men.  180; 
and  fur  traders,  443-47;  and 
missionaries,  457-38;  and 
Oregon  government,  464; 
uprisings  in  Oregon,  408- 
468,  470;  see  alto  names  of 
tribes 
Iphigenia  (ship),  16 


Irving,    WasbiBglon.    Ailoria. 

131,  107.  403 
haae    Todd   (ship),    184,    183, 

188,  401,  404,  403 
Isle  A  la  Crosse,  Fort,  88-80 

James,  Duke  of  York,  and 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  80 

James  Hay.  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  builils  fort  oii. 
81.  84 

Jefferson,  Ttinnuis.  and  ex- 
pansion. 47-48:  Lewis  and. 
49.  34.  47,  4S.  00;  President 
of  I'niled  Slates,  .11;  private 
message  to  Cimaress,  31- 
34;  ilemair  quotiil.  34-33 

Jefferson  Uiver.  Lewis  and 
Clark  on.  50.  37 

Jesuits  as  missionaries  to 
Indians.  444  (note) 

John  Day's  Iliver.  180 

Joint  OccupationTreaty(1818|, 
414.433 

Joliet.  Louis,  70 

Jones,  Ben,  hunter,  185 

Juan  de  Fuca,  Strait  of.  Cray 
in.  44;  Indians  from,  141 

Judith's  River,  Clark  names, 
30-51,  74 

Kamchatka,     Ledyard    starts 

for,  48 
Kamloops    (B.    C),    post    es- 
_tablished  on  site  of,  184 
Kansas  River,  Lewis  and  Clark 

reach,  38;  French  on,  77 
Kaskaskia,  French  in,  77 
Kaw     (or     Kansas)     Indians. 

Lewis  and  Clark  and.  39-40 
Kendrick,    Captain  John,    16, 

18,  19,  40-41,  46 
Kentucky,  Spain  and,  30 
Kootenay    Indians,    Astorians 

trade  with.  193 

La  Charelte,  74;  Lewis  and 
Clark  reach,  38;  Hunt  at, 
149 


S84 


INDEX 


;, 


Ladf  Waikinilon  (•loop),  18, 
1».  «0.  88  "^ 

Laiwley.  Fort,  tU 

L*  Peroun,  Admiral,  84  (note) 

Laramie,  Fort,  iSt 

lark  (ihip).  198.  19S,  201,  tU 

La  Sail*,  Reni-Robert  Cave- 
licr.  Sieur  de,  4,  78 

La  V^rendrye,  47,  78 

Le  Clerc,  coyagiur  with  Astor's 
Overlanders,  188,  800,  808 

Ledyard,  John,  88-89 

Lee,  Daniel,  248 

Lee,  Jason,  844,  888 

Lemhi  Pass,  Lewis  and  Clark 
go  through,  68 

Lemhi  River,  Lewis  and  Clark 
explore,  68 

Le  Moynes  with  marauders  to 
Hudson  Bay,  88;  >m  also 
Iberville 

Lewis,  clerk  on  the  Towtuin, 
I3S,  139 

Lewis,  Meriwether,  80-30; 
chosen  by  Jefferson  for  ex- 
pedition, 34;  Jefferson  on, 
84-38;  prepares  for  expedi- 
tion, 38;  A  Slatittieat  VieK 
cf  ike  Indian  Naliont  In- 
habiting the  Territory  of 
Louitiana,  40;  and  Indians, 
40,  41,  66;  as  a  diarist,  48: 
writes  to  Jefferson,  47,  48, 
89;  encounters  with  bears, 
49-80,  88-83;  explores 
Maria's  River,  81;  and 
Great  Falls,  88;  quoted,  61; 
shot  accidentally,  67;  Gover- 
nor of  Louisiana  Territory, 
69;  death  (1809),  70:  tee  alio 
Lewis  and  Clark  expedition 
Lewis  and  Clark  expedition, 
87  et  tea.;  personnel,  86-37; 
diary  of,  48-48;  loyalty  of 
men,  183-84;  bibliography, 
873-74 
Lewis  and  Clark  River,  66 
Liberty,   deserter  from    Lewis 

and  Clark  expedition,  41 


Lisa,  Manuel,  fur  trader,  109; 
Missouri  Fur  Company,  109; 
and  Astor's  Overlanders,  146, 
186,  189,  160,  161-68,  168, 
164;  Dorion  and,  147-48, 
161:  Henry  and,  174  (note); 
death,  888;  wife  crosses 
plains,  888  (note) 
Lo  Lo  Creek,  Lewis  and  Clark 

on,  68.  66 
Lo  Lo  Pass,  Lewis  and  Clark 

in,  68,  66 
Louisiana.      Spain      acquires 
(1768),  9:  ceded  to  France 
(1800),  30-31 ;  Iberville  and, 
88 
Louisiana  Purchase,  38-34 
Lumbering,  beginnings  in  Ore- 
gon, 888 

McDonald,  John,  of  Garth, 
99,  804 

McDougal,  Duncan,  joins 
Astor.  180;  to  command  fort 
on  Columbia,  121;  loyalty  to 
Nor'westers,  184-88,  198; 
selects  site  for  fort,  138;  and 
Thompson,  134-38;  frightens 
Indians  with  the  "bottle  of 
smallpox,"  142,  268;  marries 
daughter  of  Comcomly,  143, 
800-01:  honors  Hunt's  arriv- 
al at  Astoria,  184;  welcomes 
the  Beater,  187;  learns  Nor'- 
westers' plans,  106;  decides 
to    abandon    Astoria,    196; 

Slan  falls  through,  197;  and 
IcTavish.  198-99,  208,  207; 
Mils  goods  and  post  to  Mc- 
Tavish,  199;  meets  the  Alba- 
troet,  201;  surrenders  As- 
toria to  Nor'westers,  803; 
opinions  of  his  conduct,  804; 
becomes  Chief  Factor  for 
Nor'westers,  804;  Astor  and, 
818;  loss  to,  814;  Comcomly 
reprimands,  848 
MacKay.  Alexander,  joins  As- 
tor,  180:  and  Thorn,   128; 


INDEX 


iSS 


M«cK«y,  Alennder — Cantintud 
landiog  from  the  Tonquin. 
It9;  uili  on  Tonquin.  133, 
137,  138;  death,  139;  Mc- 
Loughlin  marries  widow  of, 
118 
Mackay,  Tom,  tU,  837,  «3e 
Mackenzie,  Alexander,  part- 
ner in  North- West  Company, 
94,  182;  discovers  and  ex- 
plores Mackenzie  River,  9 J, 
216;  journal,  100 
Mackenzie,  Donald,  partner 
in  Pacific  Fur  Company, 
144-45,  152;  recruits  river- 
men  in  Montreal,  144-45;  on 
journey  overland,  175,  188; 
leads  expedition  to  erect 
forts,  188;  and  the  Nor'- 
westers,  198,  202;  traps 
Snake  River  Country,  200; 
returns  across  mountains, 
205,  207 
Mackenzie    River    discovered 

and  explored,  95,  210 
Mackinaws,   00,   93,   94,    111, 

118 
McLellan,  Robert,  partner 
with  Astor's  Overlanders, 
152;  and  Lisa,  150,  159,  162, 
163;  on  journey  overland, 
175,  183;  makes  start  for 
return  journey,  185,  188; 
welcomes  the  Beaver  to  As- 
toria, 187 
McLoughlin,  John,  Father  of 
Oregon  or  King  of  Old 
Oregon,  217;  member  of 
North-West  Company,  217- 
218;  with  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  218;  "White 
Eagle,"  218;  prohibits  rum, 
226;  policies,  227;  life  at 
Fort  Vancouver,  ^28-29, 
231-39;  his  wife,  228-29; 
urges  purchase  of  Alaska, 
230;  character,  231;  as  a 
physician.  232-33;  hospital- 
ity, 233-34;  interest  in  agri- 


culture, 234;  welcomes  Par- 
ker, 247;  sends  to  England 
for  clergyman,  249-51;  and 
Whitman,  252;  goes  to  Lon- 
don, 253;  sends  settlers  to 
Willamette  Valley.  254-55; 
and  missionaries,  256;  atti- 
tude toward  American  set- 
tlers, 259,  260,  261,  262; 
resigns  from  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  267;  death  (1857). 
269-70 

McTavish,  Donald,  9S),  205-06 

McTavish,  J.  G.,  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  196;  comes 
to  Astoria,  198-200,  202- 
203;  Astoria  surrendered  to. 
203.  207 

McTavish,  Simon.  91 

Madison  River.  Lewis  and 
Clark  name,  56 

Magellan  explores  New  World, 

Mandan,  Fort,  48 

Mandan  Indians.  Lewis  and 
Clark  among,  46-47.  68-60 

Maquinna  (or  Maquilla),  In- 
dian chief,  13.  14 

Maria's  River  (Marias),  Lewis 
explores,  51,  67 

Marcjuette,  Jacques,  Jesuit 
priest,  76 

Martinez,  Don  Estevan,  16,  19 

May  Daere  (ship),  240 

Meares,  John,  13-15.  16,  17, 
19,  113 

Methodist  Church  sends  mis- 
sionaries to  Indians,  244-45 

Mexico,  war  with,  263 

Michaux.  Andr4,  29-30 

Michilimackinac,  Hunt  seeks 
to  enlist  men  at,  145;  Astor's 
losses  at,  212 

Michilimackinac  Company,  90 

Michilimackinac,  Fort,  87 

Miller,  Joseph,  partner  with 
Astor's  Overlanders.  152, 
158;  leaves  party,  174; 
Stuart  finds,  191-92 


286 


INDEX 


MinUiippi  River,  Spain  con- 
cedes right  of  navigation.  30; 
Lewis  and  Clark  cross,  88; 
French  on,  76,  77;  Thomp- 
■OD  traces  headwaters  of,  07; 
Hunt  takes  party  down,  140 

Missouri  Fur  Company,  lOS, 
146,  147,  as 

Missouri  River,  Lewis  and 
Clar!:  on.  38  tl  teq.i  doubt 
as  to  course.  51 

Montreal,  and  fur  trade,  90; 
Nor' westers  in.  108-04;  As- 
tor  at.  213,  216 

Mooae.  Fort,  Canadians  reach, 
82,83 

Napoleon,  plans  expedition  to 
New  Orleans,  31 ;  sells  Louisi- 
ana. 32-33 

Nass  River,  Fort  Simpson  on 
229 

Natches  Trace.  Lewis  killed 
on,  70 

Nelson  River,  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  builds  fort  on,  81 

Nevada,  Ogden  in.  225 

New  Albion.  6.  26d 

New  Archangel  (Sitka),  Hunt 
bounc*  for,  188 

New  Caledonia,  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  posts  in,  224 ; 
British  rieht  to,  265;  see 
alto  British  Columbia 

New  Orleans,  Napoleon  and, 
81 ;  Jefferson  attempts  to 
purchase,  31;  French  in,  77 

New  Zealand,  Vancouver 
touches,  22 

Nez  Percys  Indians,  Lewis 
and  Clark  and,  62;  Astor's 
men  trade  with,  192;  Clarke 
and  Farnham  execute  one 
of,  198;  kill  Dorion  and 
companions.  208;  Parker  and 
Whitman  meet,  246.  247; 
Spalding  among.  253 

Nodaway  River.  Hunt  camps 
near  mouth  of.  146,  151 


Nootka  (Vancouver  Island), 
Cook  at,  1 1 ;  Meares's  colony, 
13-16;  Martinez  seizes.  16, 
17;  restored  to  England,  17; 
Vancouver  at,  22;  Ledyard 
plans  to  go  to.  28;  Boston 
seized  at  (1803).  116 

Northwest  America  (ship),  15, 
16 

North-West  Company.  Man- 
dans  and,  47;  established,  91 ; 
strife  among.  01;  personnel, 
92;  employ  eoureurs-de-bou, 
92-93;  headquarters.  93;  and 
Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
94.  215,  216;  achievements. 
94  et  sea.;  life  in  Montreal. 
102-04;  life  at  Fort  William, 
104-08;  Astor  and,  110-12, 
118,  214;  Astoria  under, 
185  «f  sea.;  end  of,  216 

Norwav  House.  224 

Nuttall.  English  scientist  with 
Astor's  Overlanders,  148, 
154.  158;  returns  to  St. 
Louis,  164;  at  Fort  Van- 
couver, 233;  crosses  Rockies 
with  Wyeth,  237 

Oak  Point.  Winship  names,  115 

Ogden,  P.S.,  with  McLoughlin. 
223,  224.  237;  and  St.  Louis 
traders,  226;  religion,  243; 
Indian  wife,  251;  induces 
Indians  to  surrender  mis- 
sionaries, 268-60 

Ohio  River,  French  dominate. 
77 

Okanogan  River,  Stuart  es- 
tablishes  post  at  mouth  of, 
185.  185.  186,  102,  196.  200, 
224 

Ordway,  Sergt.,  of  Lewis  and 
Clark  expedition.  67 

Oregon,  myth  connected  with, 
1-3;  early  explorations,  4- 
10;  Carver  and,  10-1 1 ;  origin 
of  name,  11;  Cook  in,  11-12; 
Meares   in.    13-15;    Robert 


INDEX 


887 


Oregon,  myth,  ttc— Continued 
Gray  in,  18,  18-21,  83-28; 
Vancouver  in,  tl-iS;  Lewis 
and  Clark  expedition,  27 
ei  «07.;  Thompson  in,  08, 
102,  133-34.  217;  Nor'- 
westers  in,  111-12,  ISS  tl 
««}.;  Aster  and,  US  et  leq.; 
question  of  ownership,  211- 
212,  t5S-5i.  262.  McLough- 
lin  in,  217  et  tea.;  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  in.  in  etteq.; 
settlement  oF,  221-22,  241 
el  «e^.;  McLoughlin  urges 
colonization  of,  254-55 
Great  Migration  to,  260 
boundary  defined,  264;  Span' 
ish  title,  265;  Treaty,  268 
erected  into  Territory  (1848), 
270;  admitted  as  State 
(1859),  270;  eSfect  of  dis- 
covery of  gold  in  California 
on,  272;  bibliography,  273- 
276 

Oregon  City,  begi nningsof,  22 1 ; 
McLoughlin  retires  to,  267 

Oregon  River,  Carver's  ac- 
count of,  10 

Oregon  Trail,  246 

Oregonian,  Oregon's  first  news- 
paper, 271 

Osage,  Fort,  Astor's  Over- 
landers  at,  150 

Osage  Indians,  Astor's  Over- 
landers  among,  150-51 

Osage  River,  French  on,  77 

Pacific  Fur  Company,  li9, 
145,  174,  214 

Fakenham,  Richard,  and  Ore- 
gon Treaty,  263 

Parker,  Samuel,  missionary, 
245,  246,  247;  Journal  of  an 
Exploring  Tour  Beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountaine,  248 

Payette,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  237,  241,252 

Pelican  (French  man-of-war), 
84 


Pend  d'Oreille  River,  Astorisns 

on,  193,  196,  200 
Perez,  Juan,  8,  9 
Piegan  Indians, Thompson  and, 

101,  134 
Pintard,  John,  18 
Platte   River,    Stuart's   party 

winters  on,  191 
Point  EUice  (Point  Distress), 

65 
Point  George,  132 
Polk,  J.  K.,  and  Oregon  ques- 
tion, 262,  263,  265-66 
Pompey's  Pillar,  68 
Pond,  Peter,  88,  91 
Pontiac's  War,  86,  88 
Portland  (Ore.),  settled  (1845), 

271 
Portland  Channel,  Gray  at,  20 
Portugal,  maritime  nati'^'n,  3; 

and  fisheries,  74,  75  (uute) 
Prince  of  Wales,  Fort,  84 
Princesg  Royal  (ship),  16 
Princetta  (ship),  16 
Pryor,   Sergt.,   of   Lewis   and 

Clark  expedition,  67 
Puget  Sound,  Vancouver  dis- 
covers, 23 
Puget      Sound      Agricultural 
Company,  255,  260 

Quadra,  Don,  Spanish  Com- 
missioner, 23 

Queen  Charlotte  Island,  Ken- 
drick  slain  at,  21 

Quinett  Creek,  Lewis  and 
Clark  on,  64 

Raccoon  (ship),  194,  190,  201, 
203 

Radisson,  French  explorer.  76; 
in  England,  78,  79 

Rae,  Glen,  son-in-law  of  Mc- 
Loughlin, 230-31 

Bed  River,  French  on,  77; 
Selkirk  attempts  colony  on, 
215-16,  255 

Reed,  member  of  Lewis  and 
Clark  expedition,  41-42 


288 


INDEX 


Reed,  John,  clerk  with  Astor's 

OverUndfrs.  ISi.  170.  18S, 

185.  186,  196.  «00,  207 
Revolutionary  War,  10 
Resner,    hunter   with    Astor's 

Overlanders.     156-57.     164. 

171,  174,  191,  807.  208 
Robinson,  hunter  with  Astor's 

Overlanders,     156-57,     164. 

171,  174,  191.  807 
Rocky  Mountain  Traders,  825, 

280 
Rocky  Mountains.  Mackensie 

penetrates,    95;    Thompson 

crosses,  97-08 
Rose,  Edward,  interpreter  with 

Astor's  Overlanders.  165-66, 

160 
Ross,  leader  among  free  traders, 

killed  by  Nor'wester.'Ol 
Ross,    Alexander,    clerk     with 

Astor's  expedition.  120.  198. 

843 
Rupert,  Prince,  70,  80 
Rupert's  Land,  Hudson's  Bay 

Company    granted,    80-81; 

free  traders  in.  88;   North- 

West    Company    and.    93; 

Hudson's  Bay  Company  in. 

227,   855;   becomes   part   of 

Canada.  271 
Russian  Fur  Company,  220 
Russians,  fur  hunters  at  Kam- 
chatka, 8;  in  Alaska,  8,  0, 

16;  initiate  sea-otter  trade, 

113;  plan  for  settlement  on 

Columbia,  114;  erect  post  in 

California,  115-16 

Sacajawea,  the  Bird- Woman, 
with  Lewis  and  Clark  expedi- 
tion, 37,  48.  49,  50,  55,  56, 
57,  68,  59-60,  61.  67-68,  69, 
72;  with  Lisa's  party  on  way 
to  Shoshones,  160 

St.  James,  Fort,  on  Stuart 
Lake,  223 

St.  Louis,  fur  trade,  30,  78-73, 
108;  Lewis  sends  bateau  to. 


■  48;  Lewis  and  Clark  return 
to.  60;  Astor  plans  fort« 
from.  119:  Hunt  at,  146-47. 
205  (note);  Bradbury  and 
Nuttall  return  to,  164;  Aa- 
tor'a  men  start  for.  185,  807; 
Stuart's  party  reaches.  191; 
Astorians  plan  to  aet  out  for, 
196;  Astor  in,  814,  815; 
Salish  Indians  seek  Clark  in, 
842.  844 

Salish  Indians,  Lewis  and 
Clark  among,  68;  Thompson 
among.  136;  Astorians  trade 
with.  103;  request  for  mis- 
sionaries. ]^41-44;  Whitman 
and.  246;  Father  de  Smet  as 
missionary  to,  257 

Salmon  River.  Clark  explores. 
68 

San  Bias  (Mexico),  expedition 
to  Northwest  from,  16 

Sandwich  Islands.  Cook  at, 
12;  Vancouver  touches,  88; 
Hunt  in,  199.  808;  Hunt 
charters  Albatrota  in,  801 

San  Francisco.  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  has  post  at,  889 

Saskatchewan  River,  discov- 
ered, 76;  French  tradirg 
posts  on,  77 

Scotch,  as  fur  traders,  87;  and 
North- West  Company.  98 

Scott,  Charles,  36 

Selkirk,  Lord,  815,  81v 

Seton.  clerk  at  Astoria,  196 

Seven  Years'  War,  86 

Shoshone  Indians,  Lewis  and 
Clark  among,  57-61 ;  As- 
tor's Overlanders  and,  171, 
177,  179,  181-82;  rifle  caches 
of  Astorians,  192;  rob  white 
traders,  225 

Siberia,  Ledyard  plans  to 
traverse,  88 

Simpson,  Sir  George,  855,  850 

Simpson.  Fort,  229,  230 

Sioux  Indians,  and  Lewis  an^ 
Clark,  44-45;  Astor's  Over- 


INDEX 


Sioux  iBiUiu—ConHniud 
landers  encounter,  IAS.  165. 
147 
Smet,  Father  P.  J.  de,  cited, 
MO  (note);  Jefuit  miision- 
«ry,  «S7,  t99  (note) 
Smith,  Solomon,  245 
Snake    Indians,    57;    tee    alto 

Shoshone  Indians 
Snake  River,  Lewis  and  Clark 
on,  8S;  Astor's  Overlanders 
seek,  171;  Astor's  Over- 
landers  on,  173-80;  Asto- 
rians  trap  country  of,  «00; 
Fort  Hall  on,  til 
Society     'slands,     Vancouver 

touches,  it 
Soto,    Hernanio    de,    explores 

New  World,  4 
Southwest  Company,  214 
Spain,  explorations,  S-4,  4-5. 
8-9,  18;  defeat  of  Armada. 
8-7;  claims  in  America,  7; 
acquires    Louisiana    (1783), 
9;  secretiveness,  10;  England 
and,    12,    17,    21;   concedes 
right  of  navigation  on  Missis- 
sippi,  SO;   and   France,   34; 
and  fisheries,  74,  74  (note); 
treaty  with  (1819),  285 
Spalding,    Henry,    missionary, 

*St,  253,  258,  288 
Sparrowhawks,    170;    tee   alto 

Crow  Indians 
Spokane  House,  192,  193,  198 
Spokane     Indians,     Aatorians 

trade  with,  193 
Spokane  River,  Thompson 
builds  fort  on,  133,  134; 
Astorians  on,  198;  post  sold 
to  Nor*westers,  199 
Stuart,  Oavid,  of  Labrador, 
joins  Astor's  company,  120; 
and  Thorn,  12S;  landing 
from  the  Tonquin,  129; 
peets  Thompson,  134,  135; 
builds  fort  on  Okanogan, 
135-36;  establishes  post  at 
Kamloops,  192;  and  plan  to 


abandon  Astoria,  197,  199; 
at  Okanogan.  200:  refuses 
to  join  Nor'westers,  205: 
sets  out  tc  cross  mountains. 
205,  207 

Stuart,  Robert,  nephew  of 
David,  joins  Astor's  com- 
pany, 120;  greets  Thompson, 
134,  135;  leads  expedition  to 
Okanogan.  185,  188;  leads 
party  overland  from  Oregon. 
188-92;  and  American  Fur 
Company,  225 

Stuart  Lake,  Fort  St.  James 
on,  223,  224 

Stuart's  Fort,  192;  tee  alto 
Okanogan 

Tennessee,  Spain  and,  SO; 
erects  monument  to  Lewis,70 

Thompson,  David,  of  the 
North-West  Company,  98, 
182;  explorations. 98-98,217; 
personal  characteristics,  98- 
100,  243;  journal,  100;  the 
Star- Man,  100-01;  map  of 
fur  country,  104-05;  sent  to 
Oregon,  111-12;  builds  fort 
on  Spokane,  133,  134,  193; 
and  McDougal.  134-35;  re- 
turns to  Montreal,  136 

Thompson  River,  Astorians  on. 
193 

Thorn,  Captain  Jonathan,  of 
the  Tonquin,  121-33,  135, 
144,  195;  fate,  136-30 

Three  Forks,  Lewis  and  Clark 
at,  68;  trading  post  of  Mis- 
souri Fur  Company.  109 
147,  156 

Three  Tetons,  Colter  discovers. 
88 

Thwaites,  R.  C,  ed.,  Jettiit 
Relationt,  242  (note) 

Tonquin  (ship),  112,  185,  195; 
voyage  to  Oregon,  USttteq.; 
fate  of,  136-41,214 

Trappers,  reign  of.  74  et  teq. 

Travelers  Rest,  82,  86 


MO 


INDEX 


M 


Tyrrell,  1.  B.,  on  Thompion, 
»7  (note) 

UnutilU  Biver,  Aitor'a  Over- 

Underi  on.  188 
Utrecht,  Treaty  of  (171S),  84 

Vancouver,  George.  21-23 

Vancouver,  Fort,  description 
of.  218-20;  brigade!  from, 
223,  224;  life  at,  231-39; 
Wyelh  reachea,  210;  Parlcrr 
at,  247,  248;  request  for 
chaplain  for.  248;  situation, 
294;  Simpson  at,  238;  settlers 
arrive  at.  2S0;  Douglas  suc- 
ceeds McLoughlin  at.  267; 
county  seat  of  Washington 
Territory.  271 

Vancouver  Island,  Vancouver 
circumnavigates.  23;  British 
right  to,  263;  Pacific  head- 
quarters of  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  271 

Van  Diemsn's  Land,  Van- 
couver at,  22 

Victoria.  British  colonisation. 
266;  headquarters  for  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company.  271; 
traders  in,  272 

Wabash  Biver,  French  on,  77 

Walla  Walla  Indians,  181,  187, 
208 

Washington,  George,  86 

Washington  Territory  (1833), 
270,  271,  272 

Wayne.  "  Mad  Anthony." 
Clarlc  under.  36;  Miller 
serves  under.  132 

Weekes.  seaman  on  the  Ton- 
quirt,  ISO 

West.  River  of  the.  myth  con- 
cerning. 1;  Heceta's  account, 
8-10;  Carver's  account.  10; 
Meares  searches  for.  13; 
Gray  and,  21,  25,  31;  Gray 
names  it  the  Columbia, 
23;   Lewis   and   Clark  and. 


38,  63;  tte  alto  Columbia 
Biver 

Whitman,  Marcus,  missionary, 
208  (note);  sent  to  Oregon, 
243;  returns  for  more  mis- 
sionaries, 240;  journeys  with 
wife  to  Oregon,  232;  among 
Cayuse  Indians,  232,  236; 
guides  caravan  across  moun- 
tains, 260;  McLoughlin  in- 
vites to  Oregon  City,  267; 
measles  epidemic,  268;  mur- 
dered, 268 

Wilkes,  Lieutenant,  of  United 
States  Navy,  cited.  26« 

Willamette  Biver,  Astorians 
on.  193,  200;  changes  in 
name,  183  (note) ;  Fort  Van- 
couver north  of,  218;  Wyeth 
builds  post  on  island.  241 

William,  Fort  (Ontario),  head- 
quarters of  North-West 
Company.  83.  118,  184,  200, 
216;  life  at,  104-08;  Mc- 
Loughlin goes  to,  217-18 

Wind  Biver.  Astor's  Over- 
landers  on,  171 

Winnipeg.  Lake.  French  on, 
77;  Henry  on,  88;  Norway 
House,  2*4 

Winship,  Boston  trader,  114-13 

Wisconsin  Biver,  French  on,  77 

Wishram,  trouble  with  Indians 
of,  18« 

Wood.  Maria,  31 

Wood  Biver,  Lewis  and  Clark 
winter  at  mouth  of.  38.  30 

Woods.  Lake  of  the.  French 
on.  77 

Wyeth.  N.J.,  237,  240.  241,  244 

Wyoming,  Colter  explores 
mountains  of.  68 

Yellowstone  Park.  Colter  dis- 
covers, 68 

Yellowstone  Biver.  Lewis  and 
Clark  name,  49;  Clark  ex- 
plores, 68 

York,  Clark's  servant,  37,  67 


mbiii 

utry, 
igon, 
mil- 
with 
nong 
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